The Body in the Park
by WildFlower084
Summary: Temperance investigates the death of a six year old boy as she tries to juggle her work and family. Genre: DramaMysteryRomance. BB in pairing, of course. Sequel to What She Thought She Didn't Want.
1. Prologue

_A/N: Hey everyone! So here's my new Bones fan fic (didn't take long, huh?) and hopefully you will enjoy it. It's a little different from the last one even though it's technically a sequel. Have fun!_

_Disclaimer: I do not own Bones (unfortunately for me). The name of the school is real (meaning it is a real school in Washington), the only thing not real about is if it actually has a "special" class. You'll know what I'm talking about later in the chapter.

* * *

_

Temperance tried to block out the noise coming from her living room. She had brought home some snapshots of her latest case the previous day and she was desperately trying to analyze them but the noise kept bothering her. She was surprised that, even after five years, she still wasn't used to the chaos that had become her life. Not that she had thought marrying Booth and raising a family with him would have been something really smooth and quiet but she had never expected _this._ She really thought she had married a man but the more she listened to him play with his kids, the more she believed she had married a big child.

She thought back to five years earlier when she had brought home her two little monsters. Of course, Lukas had been the first one to see his house but that hadn't change the fact once both twins had been settled in properly, they had been sweet little angels. Temperance wondered when things had actually changed. When had they become such little terrors? Then again, she had to admit, they had turned to little terrors that you just hated to love. According to the neighbors, they were the cutest and sweetest kids in the whole neighborhood but their parents knew better than to jump to that conclusion too quickly.

She dropped her gaze back to her snapshots and didn't notice Parker coming in the kitchen until he spoke.

"Hey Temp!" he said as he walked up to the fridge.

"Hey Parker! Did the noise wake up?" Temperance asked her 12-year-old stepson.

"No, I was already up."

"What are they doing anyway?"

"Dad's just attacking Riley or something. I think they're playing monsters."

Temperance smiled as she nodded. _Monsters_ was Riley's favorite game and Temperance wasn't so sure why she liked it so much. It mostly consisted of running around the house, trying not to get caught by some unknown form of monster, usually incarnated by Booth or sometimes by Angela when she dropped by.

"What's Luke doing?"

"I think he's up in his room. I don't really know, I didn't see him." Parker replied as he poured some milk in his bowl of cereal.

Putting back the milk in the fridge, he sat down across from his step-mother. Temperance went back to her pictures. She barely had time to notice a fractured wrist before she heard a shriek coming from the dining room.

"MOMMY!" Riley screamed as she came running in the kitchen, her father really close behind her.

"Ah-ha! Got ya!" Booth said as he grabbed his daughter by the waist and scooped her up the ground.

Her head thrown back, Riley giggled loudly as Booth gave her small kisses over her face. She tried to let herself free but soon noticed that her father had a very (too) strong hold on her and soon had to admit defeat.

"Daddy! Stop it!" she pleaded half-heartily.

"Never." Booth replied.

She resumed her wiggling without any luck once again.

"Come on, Booth, stop it. You'll make her throw up her breakfast." Temperance said, as she tried hard not to laugh at what she was watching.

"I'll clean it up." Booth said in reply, winking at her.

Temperance shook her head, laughing softly, before going back to her snapshots.

"Are you excited for school tomorrow?" Booth asked his daughter, slowly calming down.

"Yes." Riley replied, finally able to relax. "Daddy, is Lukas going to the same school as me?"

Temperance and Parker looked up to Booth who was now staring uncomfortably at his daughter. He didn't want to lie to her and say that her older brother would in fact be going to the same school as her but he didn't feel like telling her the truth.

* * *

"_Come on, Booth, we can't seperate them." Temperance said._

_She was sitting on her bed, brushing her hair as she watched her husband getting ready for bed._

"_Bones, we can't possibly send them to the same school. Riley is not advanced enough."_

"_She can talk."_

"_With the vocabulary and the maturity of a three-year-old. Come on, Temperance, Riley will be behind on all of those kids. As much as I hate to admit it, our daughter is not a regular kid so we can't send her to a regular class."_

"_You see, Booth, that's where I don't agree with you. We always said that we would treat Riley just like any other child and look where that got her. She's done more progress than the doctors expected. If we stop treating her normally and put her in a "special" class, her progress will stop."_

_Booth sighed. He stopped what he was doing, crouched down in front of his wife and grabbed her hands._

"_Honey, if we don't put her in a special class, we won't be able to send her to school at all this year. Remember last year? She threw this huge fit because her brother was going to school and not her. I don't want it to happen again this year. The only way we can send her to school is if we send her to H.D. Cooke. Come on, admit it, that class is perfect for her."_

_Of course, she had to admit it. They had gone to visit it a few days earlier and it had been everything she had expected. The children were not too behind the others and the teachers were terrific. Riley would actually fit right in in that class and she knew it. She just hated to admit it._

"_Here's the deal." Booth said. "We'll try it just for this year and if we see that it's not working out, that she's really not doing any progress then we'll send her to Lukas's school."_

_Temperance sighed as she rolled her eyes._

"_Fine."_

_Booth kissed her quickly before getting up and resuming his evening routine.

* * *

_

It had been a couple of seconds after Riley had asked her question and Booth realized he still hadn't answered it. He looked at his wife for help but Temperance looked away. She herself didn't know what to say to her daughter.

Booth looked back to Riley who was staring at him expectantly. Putting her back down on the ground, he tried to think of something to say. He sat down on the cold floor and pulled her down so she could do the same thing.

"No baby, Lukas won't be going to the same school as you."

"But why?"

"Because, you see Rye, your needs are different than your brother's."

"Come on Dad, speak her language." Parker said, interrupting his father. "She'll never understand what you're talking about."

Booth knew his son was right but what else was he to say? How could he explain to a five-year-old girl who wasn't really one mentally that she wasn't a normal child so, therefore, couldn't go to a normal school? He knew Riley already suspected that she was different (the days she had spent in day care had already taken care of that) but he didn't want to let her know for sure that she was.

"You're different from your brother, Riley. He's..."

He had been about to say _smarter than you_ but had stopped himself at the last minute.

_Man, this is tough_. He thought.

"... smarter than the regular kids your age so we have to send him to a special school." He lied. "Does that answer your question, sweetie?"

"Yes. But I want to go to Lukas' school." Riley whined, adding at least two extra S's to Lukas'.

"I'm sorry, Rye, but you can't."

"But I want to go!" She said, getting up and running off to her bedroom.

Booth got up and looked at Temperance. He didn't need to say anything. Temperance was already up on her feet and on her way to her daughter's bedroom.

When she opened the door, she found Riley lying flat on her stomach, face buried in her pillow, sobbing uncontrollably. Temperance walked up to her bed and sat down beside the child. Gently rubbing her back, she tried to find something to comfort her. She hated to see her daughter so sad.

"I want to go with Lukas." Riley said, looking up at her mother.

She gathered her daughter in her arms and rocked her. The child continued her sobbering.

"One day you will, Rye. One day you will." Temperance whispered as she kissed her daughter on the top of her head.

* * *

_So what do you think?_


	2. The Body in the Park

_A/N: So here's the official beginning of the story. Just a couple of things before you start reading. The official genre for this story is Drama/Mystery/Romance even though it is under Drama/Mystery on the main page. I'm just trying to get a bigger variety of readers, not everyone enjoys fluff (even though a lot of people do!). But don't worry, there will definetely be some BB fluff in further chapters._

_Disclaimer: I do not own Booth and the whole Squint squad but I sure own the new characters. Go me!

* * *

_

Everything was quiet in the Medico-Legal Lab and Temperance felt like she was in paradise. There no children running around and shrieking, no Booth stomping above her head as he ran after one of the twins and certainly no music (if she could even call that music) coming from Parker's bedroom. The only sound in the room came from her typing fingers, the best sound in the world in her ears, after her children's laughter of course, as she worked on her novel.

She had started working on her fourth book just before she had gone on vacation and the ideas just kept on coming. She had had good critics from her previous one which made her even more eager to keep on writing. In this book, that she was planning on calling, _Trip to Paradise_ or at least something along those lines, she was having her main characters married and going off on their honeymoond. She smiled at the thought of her own wedding. It had been such a wonderful day.

They had agreed, surprisingly, on a private wedding with only Booth's family and their best friends. Angela had been there, of course, as a maid of honor, and Hodgins had been there too. Zach, Dr. Goodman and his family had come too and of course, her partner at the time, Special Agent Elena Harring who had become sort of like a sister to Temperance had been present as well.

She missed Elena. A few months ago, she had been transferred to Colorado and Temperance couldn't see her anymore. They had tried to keep in touch but their schedules never really matched up and over the weeks they had lost contact altogether. Then again, maybe it had been a good thing. The conversations, when they did actually spoke, seemed to have gotten shorter and shorter.

She was completely lost in her thoughts and she didn't hear the person walking in her office before he spoke.

"Back from your vacation, I see." She heard a voice say behind her.

She turned around to see a cute blonde head and blue eyes staring at her. She smiled at her new partner before turning back to her computer screen.

"Hey Ryan. What's up?" she asked, as she resumed typing.

"We have a new case."

Temperance stopped typing altogether and turned to her partner, a large smile spreading over her face.

* * *

"The body was found in the wooded area of a local park near a school not too far from here." Ryan explained as they walked to Temperance's car. "We already have a team on site, looking for evidence even though we're pretty such we won't find anything. All we need you to do is pull a quick ID since we have a gut feeling we already know who it is."

"Who is it?" Temperance asked as she climbed in the driver's seat of her car.

Ryan opened the door to the passenger's side and sat down. He shut the door before answering her question.

"Two children disappeared from their home about six months ago. The remains were found near the school of these two children." He said as he buckled his seatbelt.

"What were their names?" Temperance asked as she started her car.

"Melina and Carl Bradford."

"Never heard of them." She replied as she drove out of the Jeffersonian parking

"Really? It was all over the news. The children disappeared during a housefire and nobody know what happened to them."

Temperance searched her mind for some memory of this particular case. She shook her head after a few seconds.

"Nope. Doesn't ring a bell." She replied, casting him one brief look.

"Well it's not a big deal." Ryan replied.

"Wait. If they disappeared during a house fire, isn't it possibly that they simply burned alive?"

"Now that's the whole mystery behind it all." Ryan said, his voice dropping low like they do in horror movies. "Not a single body was found dead in the house."

Temperance turned to her partner and laughed. He could be so funny at times.

* * *

She turned in the parking lot of the elementary school twenty minutes later and put her car into park. Several police cars were already lined up on both sides of the street where seveal bystanders had gathered and now simply stood still at they watched what was happenning over in the park. She also noticed a few reporters as Ryan and her made their way through the thick crowd.

"I thought I had made myself clear." He told a policeman who stood behind the yellow tape. "I didn't want the press to be here."

"Sorry, Agent Longström." The policeman said as he lifted the tape for Temperance and Ryan to duck under.

Ryan led her to the remains where three officers were gathered around, one of them taking pictures of the body. Temperance grabbed her latex gloves out of her bag and snapped them on. She crouched down beside the remains.

"You just want a quick ID?" she asked Ryan, looking up at him.

Her partner nodded. Dropping her gaze back to the skeleton, she began to analyze it.

The skull was in pretty good shape which made Temperance think that it would easy to identify the victim later on. She remained silent for a few minutes, fully aware of the four pairs of eyes looking down at her. It didn't bother her as much now as it did before with Booth but at the moment she wished it was in fact her husband staring down at her and not her new partner.

She had to admit though, she liked Ryan. He was nice, sweet, funny and, as much as she hated to admit, pretty cute. Their relationship had started out the same way her relationship with Booth had, cold and frustrating, but it didn't take much time for Ryan and Temperance to become really good friends. They had been working together for only two or three months but Temperance felt like it had been more like twenty years, even though, she realized at the moment, she didn't know much about him. Something between them just seemed to click and Temperance couldn't point a finger on it. Maybe this was just something she couldn't analyze.

"So?" Ryan asked after a few minutes, finding her a bit too quiet.

"Well, by the looks of it, I'd have to say our victim is a caucasian male. The broken ribs suggest that he was killed by a trauma to the chest and the fractures of his fingers and toes suggest that he was tortured before being killed."

"Time of death?"

"Approximately four to five months ago."

"Age of the victim?" Ryan asked as he scribbled everything she had said in a little notebook.

"I'd have to say 4 to 6 years old."

Temperance heard him swear under his breath as he wrote down what she had just said. She scanned the body once again before standing up. Turning to her partner, she tried to look unmoved by what she had just seen even as images of her son ran through her mind.

_This could be him._ A familiar voice told her.

She mentally told it to shut up.

"I could bring the skeleton in and have Angela do a sketch of him."

"No need. We'll identify him with dentures. Our work here is finished." Ryan said as he gently grabbed Temperance by the arm.

He knew his partner and he knew that she wanted to work more on the body. Unfortunately for her, their work here was finished.

"Come on you. Let's go grab some lunch." He told her, dragging her away from the skeleton.

And it was halfway through lunch that Ryan's cellphone rang, confirming the identity of the victim.

"Carl Bradford, age 6." Ryan said to his partner.

"That was quick." Temperance replied as she took her a bite out of her chicken.

"You see, the victim was related to one of our agents at the FBI and he sort of took it personally when the children disappeared. That's why we're doing this as quickly as we can. We need to bring him closure" Ryan answered before taking a sip from his water. "I think it's time to pay a visit to the Bradford family."

* * *

The Bradfords, Temperance noted, seemed pretty well off. Living in the nicest neighborhood of the city, they also had the biggest and prettiest house on their street. Temperance wondered if they had moved there after the fire or had been living there before and simply rebuilt their house. She asked the question to Ryan who didn't know the answer himself.

As they waited for someone to open the door, Temperance took in her surroundings. The other houses all looked nice and well-kept and their lawn was greener than Temperance had ever seen. The trees stood tall and proud on the front lawns and seemed to be bragging about living in such a nice neighborhood. Temperance chuckled at her observation. When had she gotten so poetic?

She didn't have much time to look around. The door opened on a small woman, no taller than 5 feet, with brown hair and brown eyes. She looked really tired, Temperance noticed, and she immediately felt guitly. Maybe they should have called instead of just dropping by like this. Then again, when had they ever called?

"Hi, I'm Special Agent Ryan Longström, FBI." Ryan said as he flashed his badge. "And this is Dr. Temperance Booth. Are you Mrs. Bradford?"

The woman nodded.

"Yes, I am." She replied.

"There are a few things we would like discuss about the disappearance of your children. May we come in?"

Mrs. Bradford nodded once again before stepping aside to let them in. The two partners stepped inside.

If Temperance had been mesmerized by the outside, no words could describe how she felt the second she saw the inside of the house. Everything was so neat, so rich, so... sophisticated that Temperance felt like she had walked in a castle instead of a suburban house.

"Mrs Bradford, is your husband home?" Ryan asked as he looked around the entrance.

"Yes he is. Would you like me to get him?"

"That would be nice." Ryan replied, totally captivated by his surroundings.

"Please, make yourself comfortable." Mrs Bradford added, pointing to the living room. "I'll be right back."

Temperance nodded and turned to her partner. She couldn't help but laugh at his expression.

"This place is amazing." Ryan said, taking his eyes off the scenery and back to Temperance.

"I agree."

They both sat down on the couch at the far end of the living room and waited patiently for their host to come back.

Temperance wondered how the Bradfords had been able to afford such a nice place. There was no doubt she would be able to afford it but it would most likely take her salary and Booth's to be able to. What did they do for a living?

They didn't wait very long for Mrs Bradford to come back with her husband whom, Temperance noted, wasn't much taller than his wife.

_Not an inch over 5'5",_ Temperance thought.

From the corner of her eye, she saw Ryan get up and stretch out his right hand.

"Hello Mr. Bradford. I'm Special Agent Ryan Longström."

But Mr. Bradford didn't move.

"I know, from the FBI. My wife told me."

His voice was cool and arrogant.

Surprised, Ryan withdrew his hand and sat back down on the couch.

"Please sit, Mr and Mrs Bradford. I promise this won't take too long."

"It better not." Mr. Bradford replied.

Temperance heard her partner take a deep breath. He was trying to keep his anger under control.

"A body was found in the local park near your children's school and it was identified as your son Carl."

The sound that immediately came from Mrs Bradford sounded more like a bird's cry than a sob to Temperance. She watched as the woman buried her face into her hands. Her eyes then went from the woman to her husband who's expression hadn't changed at all. In fact, he seemed more frustrated and impatient than hurt.

"I'm very sorry for your lose but if you don't mind, I would like to ask you a few questions."

"You will do no such thing." Mr. Bradford replied.

His voice had sounded loud in the nearly quiet living room and Temperance shivered. There was just something unpleasant about this man that made her want to run away from him.

"Pardon me?" Ryan asked, an edge of anger in his voice.

"You will do no such thing."

Mrs Bradford's high-pitched sob made her husband turn his attention to her.

"Oh for God's sake Laura, get a grip!" He barked at her.

"Mr. Bradford, this is not a way to speak to your wife." Temperance said, now angry herself.

"I didn't ask for your opinion Miss..." Mr. Bradford stopped, realizing he didn't know her name.

"_Mrs_ Booth." Temperance filled in for him.

"Really? Someone married you? I'm quite surprised."

"Sir, I will ask you to stay polite." Ryan immediately cut in.

"You're in my house and I will talk to you the way I want."

"Very mature." Temperance muttered under her breath.

"Geez Temperance, will you just shut up?" Ryan whispered.

But Mr. Bradford had heard them.

"That's actually pretty good advice. Maybe you should take it."

"Sir, if you don't change your tone, I will have to put you under arrest." Ryan warned him as he stood up.

Bradford did the same and took a few steps towards the agent.

"Oh really? Is that so? Then I won't go without a fight." He said as he rested his hands on Ryan's chest, applying a bit of pressure.

"Sir, take your hands off me." Ryan demanded.

Bradford smiled.

"Not a chance." He replied.

Ryan took a deep breath and grabbed his handcuffs.

"In that case, Mr. Bradford, you're under arrest for assault on a federal agent."

Handcuffing him, he casted a glance at Temperance who was now watching the wife. She hadn't stopped sobbing and hadn't looked up from her hands as her husband was taken into custody and led out of the house.

"Do not answer any questions, Laura!" Bradford yelled as he was brought out of the house.

Temperance followed her partner but not without casting one last glance at Mrs. Bradford was crying uncontrollably in the living room before closing the door behind her.

* * *

It was a little past eleven when Temperance unlocked the door to her house. It had been a very long day. Ryan and her had tried to interrogate Bradford after he was brought to the FBI without any luck. They had then searched the missing person's files to find the Bradford children's files and had gone over all of the few evidence. But without the parents' side of the story, it would be impossible to really find out what had happened.

They had gone out to dinner in a small restaurant not too far from Ryan's house around 6:00 pm and Temperance just hadn't seen the time fly by. The next thing she knew it was quarter to eight and she still had some urgent stuff to do at the lab. She had asked Ryan to drive her back to the Jeffersonian where she had spent the following two hours crouched over the remains of some unknown soldier from some unknown era (this was what she was actually trying to identify).

At 10:45, her eyes were starting to burn and she took that as a sign that it was time to go home. She had shut everything down and had left the museum.

She stepped inside her house. Everything was quiet, not that she would have expected otherwise. As she took off her shoes, she wondered how her children's first day of school had gone. She'd just ask them tomorrow.

She went to the kitchen, poured herself a glass of water and drank it slowly. She had missed her children today, more than she had missed anyone in her life. She was even surprised at herself. What had happened to the cold and insensitive Brennan that she had been before her one-night stand with Booth? She was long gone now.

She put her glass into the sink and walked back out of the kitchen, turning off the light as she passed the switch. She had been about to go up the stairs when her eyes fell on something laying on the first step. She looked down to see her daughter fast asleep, curled up against the wall.

Frowning, she crouched down in front of her and stuck a strand of hair behind her ear.

"Riley..." she said softly.

Riley opened her eyes and sleepily stared at her mother.

"Mommy, you're home." She whispered groggily.

"Yes baby, I'm home. Come on, let's get you in your bed."

Riley nodded and Temperance picked her up.

As she set her daughter into her bed, she couldn't help but wonder what she had been doing at the bottom of the stairs in the first place. She noticed that Riley had fallen back asleep. Oh well, she'd ask her tomorrow.

She left the room and walked to hers. Booth was asleep but she thought she sensed stiffen when she climbed into bed beside him. He was lying on his back and Temperance snuggled up against him. As she closed her eyes, she didn't notice Booth open his. He stared down at her angrily before closing his eyes to go back to sleep.

* * *

_So, what do you guys think of Ryan? ;-)_


	3. St Sebastian Elementary School

_A/N: Thanks to everyone who took the time to review. It was greatly appreciated! Hopefully you'll enjoy Chapter 2._

_St. Sebastian's isn't a real school in Washington, at least that I know of._

* * *

"Good morning." Temperance said cheerfully as she walked in the kitchen. 

She was greeted by silence which surprised her. Turning around, she noticed that Booth was the only one sitting at the kitchen table and he looked pretty angry.

"Booth, I said good morning."

They had been married for three years but she still hadn't stopped calling him Booth and thruthfully, neither of them knew why. Temperance believed that it was because she was used to it but Booth thought that it was her way to establish dominance in their couple. But whatever the true reason was, neither of them really cared what the other called them as long as they were together.

"What time did you come home last night?" Booth asked coldly, not looking up from his newspaper.

"Is that really of your business?" Temperance replied in the same tone as she took out a cup from the cupboard.

She was pouring herself some coffee when she heard Booth sigh loudly.

"You know what Bones? It is my business what time you come home when our kids are concerned."

"I'm sorry, Booth. I just got caught up in the new case I'm working on."

"The Bradford kids?" Booth asked.

"How do you know about that?"

"I work for the FBI, Bones. I'm Cullen's assistant, I work with the man. I know about everything that is going on in the entire building."

"That's a comforting thought." Temperance replied sarcastically.

Booth sighed angrily.

"What I'm saying is that you have children now, Temperance, okay? As much as you hate to admit it, they need you. You're not free to do whatever you want anymore. That's the whole joy of being a parent. Your kids come first. Yesterday was their first day of school and you weren't even there to hear how it went. And I know Riley slept in the stairs again."

"What? How did you...?"

"She's been doing it for the last couple of months. I'm usually the one who brings her back to bed once she's sound asleep but last night I decided not to. I figured that if you saw her there it would make you realize how much your kids miss you when you're working late and that maybe you would consider cutting your hours by, let's say, a quarter?"

Temperance looked up at her husband and saw that in his eyes that he was being serious. Not in an angry way she had expected to see but more in a hopeful way that maybe he had gotten through to her. She immediately started to feel guilty. Maybe she should have been spending more time at home. Then again, she had missed working on the field so much during the six months she had had no FBI partner that ever since Ryan had entered her life, she had spent much of her time with him working on crimes. But this, she wasn't going to tell Booth. She knew he would immediately start to get jealous and she was in no mood for a jealousy scene.

"Alright, I will. I promise that tonight, I will get home at a decent time."

"Promise?"

"Promise."

Booth sighed happily and Temperance could swear she had seen a smile small tug at his lips.

"Come here now." He told her.

"Why?" she asked suspiciously.

Why was he all nice to her all of a sudden?

"Just come here."

She took a few tentative steps but when she realized that he meant no harm, she walked up to him more confidently. When she was at arm's reach, he immediately grabbed her by the waist and pulled her down to him. Wrapping his arms around her, he kissed her on the shoulder.

"I missed this."

"Missed what?" Temperance asked, completely confused now.

Had she miss something again?

"Arguing with you, I missed it. I feel like I haven't seen you in ages."

"Booth, we just spent two full weeks together. How can you even feel that way?"

Booth sighed. She could be totally clueless sometimes.

"The two weeks we had off from work, we spent them with Parker and the twins. It's not like we were really _alone_. And, I don't know if you noticed, but we haven't argued in ages. That is so unlike us."

She had to give him that point.

"Tell you what. How about I really get home early tonight and we can fight as much as you want?"

Booth grinned.

"I actually had something else in mind for tonight."

Temperance smiled and shook her head.

"No need to wait for tonight. I have some spare time right now." She replied.

Booth's grin turned mischievous as he leaned forward to claim her lips.

* * *

"You're late." Ryan said as she walked in her office. 

"Yeah, sorry about that. I got... I got held up at home." Brennan replied, avoiding eye contact.

"Well are you ready to go?"

"Just give a me a minute to check my e-mails then we'll go."

"Fair enough." Ryan answered as he sunk back into the couch.

* * *

Ryan pulled his car in the parking lot of St. Sebastian's Elementary School around 11:30 am. He had been told that lunch break was around that time and he really wanted to catch all of the children's teachers before they went back to class. He had limited time to interview each of them and he hoped that he would be able to talk to them all. 

"How many of them are there?" Temperance asked as they quickly made their way to the entrance of the school.

"Three. We'll talk to the school principal and Carl and Melina's teachers and then we'll get the hell out of there."

"Why am I getting the feeling you want to do this as quickly as possible?"

"Well partially because we only have an hour to talk to all of them."

"There's something more, I know it."

Ryan stopped in his tracks.

"This is a private school, Temperance. A private school with children, if I might add. If the word gets out, it'll be all around the school in a matter of seconds. The school will get phone calls from worried parents who will want to take their kids out of the school. I can't have that. We're talking about a school's reputation here."

"So the school's reputation is more important than gathering as much information as possible to help catch whoever did this to Carl Bradford?"

Ryan ignored her question and went on his way to the front door. But Temperance didn't move.

"What's in it for you?" she asked him.

Ryan stopped once again and turned around. Walking back towards her, he slowly answered her question.

"Nothing's in it for me. I'm not getting paid to keep everything under silence if that's what you're asking. But this was my school. I did my whole elementary school here, my son goes here now. The principal that we're about to meet was my sixth grade teacher and possibly the best teacher I had ever had in my entire life. So I'm sorry if I feel a bit overprotective of it."

Temperance blinked a few times as she stared into her partner's eyes.

"I'm sorry." She whispered.

She heard him mumble something as he turned around to make a third attempt to reach the school's main entrance. Temperance followed close behind.

* * *

The door to his office was closed but he heard his secretary's voice and he knew that the visitors had arrived. He had received a call from the FBI the previous day informing him that they would be stopping by for a bit of questionning. The agent he had spoken to, the agent who had been his pupil during his first year of teaching, had assured him that it wouldn't take too long. Deep down, he hoped that the words had been true. 

He had seen the press outside his school who had wanted him to answer a few questions but he had ignored them. If the word came out that the victim's body had turned out to be a student from this school, he knew that only bad things would come out of it. Parents wouldn't feel safe and would refuse to send their kids in a "dangerous" neighborhood where a certain maniac was having fun dropping bodies in parks. Yes, if anything from this case came out, it could ruin the school's reputation and the neighborhood's for that matter.

"Mr. Cobbs? You have visitors." Her secretary announced from the intercom.

"Send them in." Mr. Cobbs replied as he stood up and smoothed his tie.

Seconds later, the door to his office opened and two strangers walked in.

* * *

Ryan opened the door to his former's teacher's office and stepped in, quickly followed by Temperance who stayed surprisingly close. Closing the door behind him, he then took a few steps towards the desk and extended his hand. The principal grabbed hold it and shook it. 

"Mr. Cobbs, this is Dr. Temperance Booth, forensic anthropologist at the Jeffersonian Institute and also my partner. She's the one who analyzed the remains found in the park."

"It's a pleasure to meet you, my dear." Mr. Cobbs replied, turning his attention to the doctor. "Please, sit."

Ryan and Temperance sat down in the two chairs in front of the desk and the principal sat back down in his. He excused himself before rummaging through his desk drawer and only looked back up when he had found what he had been looking for. Dropping two green folders on his desk, he leaned forward, resting his upper arms on his desk, fingers laced in front of him.

"What can I do for you today?" he asked seriously.

"Well, as you know sir, the body we discovered in the park across from here belongs to Carl Bradford, one of the two children who disappeared in their housefire, who were students at this school."

"Yes, I know all of that already. I meant, what can _I_ do for you? I know nothing about these students except that they were great ones and that they were really smart kids. Their files here proves me right." He said, pointing at the two green folders.

Ryan had to agree. These kids must have been angels if the thinness of both folders were signs of that.

"So you've never really had to deal with them then?" Ryan asked as he took out his notebook.

Temperance couldn't help but compare him to Booth and even Elena. Neither of them had ever really written anything down in notebooks (except maybe once or twice) and Temperance wondered if his partner just had a bad memory or if he simply liked being a "traditional" cop.

"Not ever. They were model children, not troublemakers. I can't even remember what they look like."

"Well maybe this will jog your memory." Ryan said as he took out a picture of Carl from his pocket.

He handed the picture over to the principal who took it nervously. Ryan sank back down in his chair. He observed intently as his former teacher inspected Carl's picture. He saw the stress line appeared across his forehead and noticed that the principal was sweating a bit. Ryan turned to Temperance who acknowledged his silent question. She had noticed too.

A few seconds of complete silence passed before Mr. Cobbs looked up from the picture and handed it back to Ryan.

"Yes, I remember who it is now." He simply said.

"And what can you tell me about him?"

Mr. Cobbs took out his handkerchief from his front pocket and gently wiped his forehead.

"His father was abusive."

* * *

Ryan had known that the interview was over and had gotten up as soon as Mr. Cobbs had answered his question. He had thanked him and had then asked them for the two children's teachers' names. Mr. Cobbs had given them to him and the two partners had immediately left the office. 

"What do you think?" Temperance asked as they made their way to the teachers' lounge.

"I think that coming here today was a really good idea. Something's up that I don't know about and I intend on finding out."

Temperance considered his answer and nodded. She agreed.

* * *

_TBC... then again, do I really need to say it!_


	4. The teachers

**A/N: Thank you to those who took the time to review, even though there weren't a lot (hint hint to the others lol).**

* * *

Ryan was the first to enter the teachers' lounge so all eyes turned on him instead of Temperance. They barely even noticed the doctor as she stepped in the room and stood beside her partner. She examined them all. They looked surprised to see them standing there and some of them looked even annoyed by their intrusion.

"Can we help you?" a man at the far end of the table asked.

"As a matter of fact, yes. I'm Special Agent Ryan Longström and this is my partner, Dr. Temperance Booth. Is there a Mrs Marx in this room?"

"I'm Mrs Marx." An woman replied, two seats away from where Ryan was standing.

"Would you mind coming with us for a few minutes? There are some things we would like to discuss with you."

Mrs Marx nodded before standing up. Ryan guided her out of the lounge and out into the hallway.

"Is my classroom okay?" the teacher asked.

"Your classroom would be fine." Ryan replied.

As they followed her through the halls of St. Sebastian's, Ryan examined her. She looked pretty old, almost near retirement, he thought. Her hair was more white than coloured and her face had wrinkles, especially around the eyes and the forehead. He caught himself wondering how long she had been teaching here. He certainly didn't remember her from his time at the school and he didn't remember Brandon, his son, ever having her as a teacher.

They walked for a few minutes before Mrs Marx stopped abrutly in front of a door. Taking out her key from her pocket, she then unlocked the door and stepped aside to let her visitors enter first. She then stepped inside and closed the door behind her.

"Please make yourself comfortable." She said, pointing to the small tables with the tiny blue chairs.

Ryan and Temperance sat on top of a table as Mrs Marx pulled up a chair to where they were sitting. She sat down on the chair, tucking her right ankle behind her other one. She looked up at her guests expectantly and waited patiently for them to talk. She didn't have to wait too long.

"Mr. Cobbs informed that you were Carl Bradford's kindergarten teacher."

"Yes, yes I was."

"Then you will probably already know that about six months ago, the child disappeared after a housefire."

"Yes, I know. Him and his older sister, Melina."

"You knew Melina?"

"No. But I heard she was a sweet little girl."

"We found some remains in the park across the street a couple of days ago and Dr. Booth analyzed them. When we matched the dentures, it was identified to be Carl Bradford."

"Oh god."

Mrs Marx's eyes immediately became watery. Ryan saw her lip quiver and it seemed pretty obvious that she was trying her best not to break down in tears. Ryan admired her.

"I have a couple of questions to ask you on Carl. I just need to get some background information on him."

"Why don't you talk to his parents?"

"We already did but we want different side of his story. Now, Mrs Marx, what can you tell me about Carl Bradford?"

Mrs Marx sniffed and pulled out a tissue from her pocket. She wiped her eyes before answering.

"Carl was a sweet child and very intelligent. So intelligent that I even talked to the principal about making him skip kindegarten and send him immediately into the first grade. But Mr. Cobbs said that the three first-grade classes were full and that we wouldn't be able to send Carl. Carl was... getting bored in my class so I kind of took him under my wing. He'd stay during recesses and lunch and I'd teach him first-grade stuff. He just loved it."

"Did you ever keep him after school?"

"Never. His father requested that both of his children come straight home after school and I always respected that wish. After all, who was I to go against the father's will?"

"Tell me more about his father."

Once again, Ryan had taken his black notebook out of his pocket and Temperance smiled.

"He's a strong man. I believe that he had it rough when he was younger. According to Carl, he yells a lot."

"Do you know if he ever abused his son?"

Mrs Marx looked shock.

"I surely hope not." She replied, really taken aback.

"You've never noticed any bruises on him or anything?"

The teacher seemed to be debating whether to answer or not. Ryan watched carefully as her expression changed from thought to thought. After a couple of seconds, the woman still hadn't answered. Ryan asked his question once again. Mrs Marx sighed.

"Once or twice, Carl came in with a black eye or bruises on his arms. But it really was only once or twice. When I asked him what the injuries were, he said he had gotten them from a bully at school. I didn't really believe it, especially not the second time."

"What did you do then?"

"I went to see Mr. Cobbs and he called Carl's father. We had a meeting with him which turned out to be inconclusive and Mr Bradford ended up being taken into custody for assault."

"Assault on who?"

"Mr. Cobbs."

Ryan nodded and scribbled down something in the notebook.

"Thank you, Mrs Marx. That would be all."

The woman thanked him before getting up. She had reached her door when she noticed that the two partners were still sitting on the table. She looked at them questionningly. Ryan answered her gaze by asking her to bring Ms White.

* * *

If Mrs Marx had looked near retirement, Ms White looked like she had just started teaching. Not older than 27 years old, Ryan was pretty sure of that, she looked more like a teen than an adult. Her voice was sweet and small just like a child's and her face was purely angelic. He didn't notice he had been staring at her with admiration until he felt his partner jab him in the stomach. Turning around, he saw that Temperance had a rather... disapproving look on her face and Ryan wondered if she was jealous.

"You must be Ms White." Ryan said to the newcomer.

"Yes I am."

"And you were Melina's teacher?"

"Yes." The woman nodded as she answered.

"Well then you probably already know that Melina and her younger brother Carl disappeared a few months ago during a housefire."

"Of course."

Unlike Mrs Marx, her eyes didn't get teary but instead seemed to simply 'shut down'. Ryan could trace no sort of reaction on her part in her eyes which made him wonder what was going on. This _wasn't_ a normal reaction.

"What can you tell me about Melina, Ms White?"

"She was a very sweet child."

"This seems to be the phrase of the day." Ryan said, sarcastically, out loud. "What _else_ can you tell me about her? How was she doing academically? Did she have any friends? How was she personality-wise?"

"She had okay grades but I knew she was smart. She just lacked motivation. You really had to push her to get her to do something. But once she had gotten going, she could go on for hours. I wouldn't say she was an unhappy child but she certainly wasn't the happiest. She had really good friends in my class and in other third-grade groups and from what I had heard, she was a really good soccer player."

"She played soccer?"

"Yes. She was apparently one of the best players on her team."

"Who told you that?"

"Mr. Collins, her former first-grade teacher. He is also the coach in her team and I happened to bump into him one night after a game. He told me that they had won the championship because of her. I can't remember the details clearly. It was a long time ago."

"How long ago?"

"Last year."

"So you're telling me that Melina was in her coach's class at school and on his soccer team at the same time?"

"Yes."

Ryan noted everything down.

"What else?"

"She was a really quiet kid and she liked to do things on her own. Whenever we had group projects, she'd always do her work alone. She said that it was the only way she would be to do stuff her way."

Ryan nodded and smiled. It reminded him of someone else.

"We found the body of Carl Bradford in the park across the street from here. He was murdered we guessed a few months ago. Although we still haven't found Melina's body, we fear that she might have gotten the same fate. Do you have any idea who could have done something like this to them?"

Ms White seemed to consider her response for a moment but ended up shaking her head.

"No, I don't."

"Thank you, Ms White."

Without saying another word, the young teacher walked out, oblivious to the stares of the two partners.

* * *

"So what do you think?" Temperance once again asked her partner as they stepped into the hallway.

Ryan rubbed his temples.

"I have no clue. This is getting really frustrating. All they keep saying is that they were good and sweet children. That doesn't help much."

"Do you still think there's something going on here that you know about?"

Ryan sighed in frustration.

"I don't know anymore. Come on, let's go grab some lunch and take our minds of the case."

Temperance agreed. They had been able to step out into the warm September sun when someone behind them called out Ryan's name. Turning around, they saw a tall black-haired man jogging towards them.

"I heard you were hear about the Bradford children."

It had sounded more like a question, a question Ryan didn't want to answer for a reason unknown to him.

"Yes we were." Temperance replied. "Who are you?"

"I'm James Collins. I was Melina's first grade teacher."

"Yes and his soccer coach. We heard."

For an instant, Ryan thought he had seen the teacher panic.

"Who told you?"

"That's really none of your business, Mr. Collins. Now if you would excuse us, we have a lunch to attend."

Ryan had been about to turn around when Mr. Collins spoke again.

"One more thing before you leave. Melina meant a lot to me. We were really close. Please find her. I've been worried sick ever since she disappeared."

Ryan's eyes narrowed. He really didn't like that man. There was just something about him that reminded Ryan of his own father, the one who had abandonned him with his three sisters and his mother.

"We are currently not investigating the disappearance of Melina, Sir."

The agent thought he saw relief spread across the teacher's face.

_Relief?_ He thought.

"Of course." Mr. Collins replied as he turned around and walked away.

When he was out of earshot, Temperance turned to her partner.

"What was that all about?"

Ryan simply shrugged and walked out of the school.

* * *

"_So you have two kids?" Temperance had asked her partner, amazed._

"_Yes. A boy named Brandon and a daughter named Christina."_

"_How old are they?"_

"_Brandon is nine and Christina is seven even though she has the intelligence of a two-year-old."_

That answer had taken Temperance by surprise. Ryan had then begin to explain to her the long journey Christina had gone through for the past seven years. The more her partner had talked, the more she had become to feel a personal connection to him. Even though Christina had Down Syndrome and Riley didn't, the ressemblance was unmistakable. They had both spoken their first word at two years old, taken their first step shortly after that and been potty-trained near their third birthday. The only difference was that Christina had then stopped making any progress whereas Riley was progressing every day of her life.

"_How about you?" Ryan had asked._

_He had met his partner a couple of months before but it hadn't been until today that he had realized he pretty much knew nothing about her._

"_I have twins: a boy named Lukas and a girl named Riley. They're both five but Riley has problems too. And I have a stepson named Parker, who has recently turned twelve."_

"_What kind of problems?"_

"_A bit like Christina except that she doesn't have Down Syndrome. She's just really slow. But Booth and I have been pushing her and she's been making more and more progress. But you can still see it. What Lukas understands in a second, she understands in ten minutes."_

"_Must be tough on you."_

"_It is."_

She shivered at the thought that Ryan had them laid his hand gently on hers. Surprisingly, she found that these shivers weren't of disgust. Closing her eyes even though she was in traffic, she tried to block the feeling away. She was _married. _Heck, she was married to Booth. HE was the man of her life and of her dreams, well, most of the time anyway. She couldn't be thinking about Ryan that way.

She turned into her street knowing fully well what was awaiting her.

"_I should go, Ryan. It's past ten already."_

_Ryan had nodded and had offered to pay for the meal. He had insisted on taking her out for dinner also and Temperance had simply agreed. A dinner between friends wouldn't hurt, right?_

As she reached her house, she noticed that all the lights were off except for the small lamp near the couch. Booth was still awake.

She silently stepped in the house and quietly closed the door behind her. Taking off her shoes, she took a few steps and poked her head into the living room. What she saw surprised her.

Booth was lying on the couch, fast asleep, protectively holding his daughter in his arms. Temperance sighed at the sight. She knew she had disappointed him once again.

* * *

**Please R and R. It means a lot to me and it gives me motivation to continue writing this story.**


	5. Jealousy and Guilt

**A/N: Thanks to those who reviewed the previous chapters, it was greatly appreciated! Sorry this chapter took so long to come but I was going through a small writer's block. By the way, wasn't the season finale great? I loved it and it inspired me for a few chapters for this story. So lots of fluff coming soon (not sure when though). Anyway hope you like this chapter and please don't forget to review!**

* * *

She tried her best to be quiet as she came down the stairs. She knew Booth would be in the kitchen waiting for her and she wanted to make the quietest entrance possible. He'd be pissed, she knew it. She had promised to be home at a decent time but she hadn't kept her promise. She had known, the second she had seen Booth and Riley asleep on the couch, that she had disappointed him once again. He hadn't slept in their room at all even though she had heard him come upstairs to tuck in their daughter shortly she had arrived. 

She walked quietly down the hall and into the kitchen. Without looking at her husband, she made her way to the coffee machine, grabbing a cup in the cupboard on her way. She poured herself some coffee and began fixing her children's breakfast. She kept her eyes in front of her, never once paying attention to Booth as she took out a box of cereals and bowls. Had she only looked up, she would have been surprised to see a rather amused Booth following her every move.

"Are the kids awake?" Temperance asked, still not looking up from what she was doing.

"Do you see them anywhere?" Booth replied.

Finally looking up at him, she immediately noticed the twinkle in his eyes. He wasn't mad at her? How was that possible? The previous day they had argued because she had got home fairly late and today, even though she had done the exact same thing last night, he was okay with it?

"Aren't you mad at me?"

"For what?"

"For being late again last night."

Booth seemed to consider, for a second or two, what to answer.

"Nope." He simply replied, shrugging.

"Why not?" Temperance then asked, suspiciously.

She just couldn't believe that he wasn't mad at her. It just didn't make any sense.

"Sea called yesterday."

He had said itnonchalantly but his words still took her by surprise and she nearly dropped the two bowls of cereal she was holding. Setting them quickly on the table before she made a mess, she avoided once again looking at her husband.

Ryan and her had run into Sea and her boyfriend the previous night at the restaurant. Sea had been very polite when she had been introduced to Ryan but Temperance had felt her sister-in-law's eyes on her all evening. She couldn't understand why because Ryan and her had only talked and laughed. They surprisingly had had a lot of fun but that had been the extent of it.

_Nothing had happened_, she thought somewhat bitterly.

Bitterly? Again she pushed the nagging feeling aside.

"And?" she asked, trying her best to sound calm.

"She said she ran into you and your _partner _at the restaurant and that you two seemed to be having a lot of fun."

Temperance noticed that the twinkle had disappeared and that he now looked angry. His eyes were almost shooting daggers at her and his jaw was clenched tight. Could it be possible that he was only jealous? After all, she hadn't done anything wrong.

"So? What's wrong with that?"

She was getting annoyed. Why was he always so jealous and possessive?

"You're not... falling for the guy, are you?"

He sounded so unsure that Temperance felt her heart melt at the sound of his tone.

"Of course not, Booth. Why would you even think that?"

Booth dropped his gaze to his cereal. He was being stupid right now. He had no reason whatsoever to be jealous of his wife's new partner. So they got along? It was something he should be happy about, certainly not jealous. She so rarely hit it off with people, this was something good for her. Wasn't it?

Not looking back to meet her eyes, he answered her.

"It's just that you and I... well... we spent a lot of time together before we, you know, started dating. You spent most of your free time with me in and outside the job, and it's just that I'm beginning to see the same pattern with Ryan as well."

Daring to look up, he was surprised to see pity in his wife's eyes and not the usual annoyance she had when he got jealous. He waited for her to say something but when she didn't, he got a little worried.

"Aren't you going to say something?" he asked after a few seconds of silence.

His heart raced hard in his chest and found that his throat had gone dry. Temperance, who had not moved from her spot near the kitchen table, seemed to have snapped back to reality.

"I'll go wake up the kids."

And on that, she left the kitchen.

* * *

Ryan was sitting on her desk when she stalked in her office. Her mood had definitely not lightened since she had left home and seeing her partner just sitting there on her desk like he owned her office irritated her. 

"Good morning, sunshine." Ryan said, smiling at his partner.

But when he didn't get an answer, his smile quickly disappeared.

"What's the matter, Tempe?"

"Nothing." She replied as she sat down at her desk and booted up her computer.

"Something's wrong. You're not even looking at me."

Temperance sighed and sunk back in her chair.

"Sorry. I just got into a fight with Booth, that's all."

"Again?"

"What do you mean, again?"

"Well didn't you get into a fight with him yesterday morning too?"

"Yes. Yes I did." She replied, sighing loudly out of frustration.

Typing in her password, she tried her best not to let it slip that they had fought about him. She just didn't want him to know.

"What was the fight about?" he then asked.

_So much for not telling him._ Temperance thought to herself.

"He's jealous, as usual. He says we spend too much time together."

She quickly glanced at him before turning her attention back to her computer.

Ryan tried his best not to smile but found it was impossible to do. So her husband was jealous of him? He couldn't help but feel happy about it because if Booth was jealous of him, it meant that there was a reason for him to be jealous. And if there was a reason for him to be jealous then it meant that maybe there was something more between Temperance and him and _that_ made him happy.

He had had a crush on her from the first day her former partner, Elena, had introduced her to him. She was just the prettiest woman he had ever met. His divorce had been pretty tough on him and he had never thought he would feel that way about a woman again. But Temperance had simply waltzed in and had swept him off his feet. Elena had immediately noticed and had immediately told him to back off, that Temperance was married. She had also felt the need to add that not only was she married but her husband was their boss' second-in-command and the most respected man at the Bureau: Seeley Booth. Ryan had taken Elena's word seriously. Booth had trained him when he had joined the FBI some years ago and he truly respected the man. But if Temperance was really interested in him, it changed everything. Who was he to be the good guy in that and not use that to his advantage?

He had been so lost in his thoughts that he hadn't noticed that his partner was staring at him weirdly. He gave her a quick smile before getting up.

"Are you ready to go?" he asked her.

"Where are we going?"

"I want to stop by the Bradford house again and speak to the wife alone. I think she holds valuable information that might help us with the case."

"Is her husband still in custody?"

"No, we released him after questioning him. The officers told him not to leave the town but he said that it was impossible, that he had to go visit his sick father. There wasn't much we could do, it's not like he's the official prime suspect in this investigation."

"So he left town?"

"Pretty much. That's why I really want to go see the wife before he comes back. Maybe she'll tell us something now that her husband is out of town."

Temperance nodded and before she knew it, she was on her feet.

* * *

They pulled in the Bradford's driveway about twenty minutes later. The two partners climbed out of the car and walked side-by-side to the door in silence. Temperance was about to ring the bell when she felt Ryan grab her wrist. She turned around to face him and saw that he looked serious. 

"What?" she asked.

She waited a few seconds but didn't get an answer. Uncomfortable under his stare, she let go of his grasp and turned back to the door.

They didn't wait long after Temperance rang before the door opened in front of them and they saw Mrs Bradford standing in the doorway. She didn't question them and simply let them in, like it was something normal for them to be standing at her doorstep at ten o'clock in the morning.

She led them to the living room after closing the door behind them and motionned to them to sit down. The two partners took the same spot they had taken two days earlier and Ryan took his notebook and his pencil. He then looked up at Mrs Bradford.

"We still have a few questions to ask you, Mrs Bradford." Ryan told her. "I heard that your husband was out of town?"

"Yes. He went to visit his father. He's dying of cancer and the doctors don't know how much time he still has." Laura replied.

"So you two are sticking with this story? So if I check into his alibi, it will turn out right?"

"Yes."

Ryan nodded and jotted something down in his notebook before looking back at her.

"I need you to tell me what happened the night of the fire."

"But I already answered that question."

"Yes I know but I want to hear it for myself. Besides maybe now you'll remember something that you didn't back then."

Mrs Bradford took a deep breath. Temperance felt like this was going to be a long story.

"I tucked the children in at eight-thirty that night. It was a little later than usual but we had visitors so I didn't see the harm. I was so tired, I had been running all over the place that day, so I decided to take a bath to relax me. I guess I fell asleep because the next thing I knew it was past ten and the water had gone cold. I got out of the tub and put on my robe. I headed back to my room and collapsed on my bed without even changing."

"And you didn't notice anything weird or different?" Ryan asked.

"No, not at all."

"When did the fire break out?"

"It was maybe around ten-thirty or eleven. The smoke detector woke me up. I got up, got dressed and when I opened the door, I noticed that the whole hallway was filled with flames. I panicked and that's when I saw a fire fighter. He told me not to worry. He scooped me up and carried me out of the house. I told him that my children were still in the house and he immediately went back in. He came out maybe fifteen or twenty minutes later with a child in his arms. But he wasn't holding one of my children."

"Who was it?"

"Her name was Allison and she was my daughter's best friend. She was sleeping over that night."

"Were all of the children sleeping the same room?"

"Yes. I had made an exception that night because usually, Carl sleeps in his own room. But I think he had a tiny crush on Allison which is why he begged me to let him sleep in sister's bedroom."

She smiled briefly at the thought before her face became serious again.

"And the fire fighter didn't see anybody else in the room?"

"He assured me that he didn't. I kept telling him that my children were supposed to be in there but he said that he had only found the little girl. Then he left."

Temperance, who had been silent for a while, finally felt the need to talk.

"It is not mentioned in the file whether the fire was criminal or accidental." She said, flipping through the folder.

"It was accidental. According to the investigator, it had something to do with the wiring in the house."

Ryan wrote it down in his notebook.

"Where was your husband that night, Mrs Bradford?"

The agent noticed how the woman seemed to have gone to at ease to pretty uncomfortable. She shifted in her seat and started twirling her ring. Ryan looked back down at his notebook and scribbled something else: _Fidgets at mention of her husband._

Just when he thought she wasn't going to answer, the woman surprised him.

"He was passed out on the couch."

"Passed out?"

Laura swallowed hard.

"Yes. He had drunk a lot that night and I think he simply passed out. I didn't bother to wake him since I didn't want him to sleep in the same room as me."

"Did he drink often?" Ryan asked.

"No."

This time, Mrs Bradford seemed more than uncomfortable, Ryan noted.

"He only seemed to drink that much whenever Melina would have a girl friend over."

Ryan shivered in spite of himself and felt Temperance do the same thing. Shutting his notebook, he decided that he had heard enough for today. Getting up, he thanked the woman for her hospitality and her time and told her he would get in touch if he ever needed her help once again.

Mrs Bradford walked them to the door and watched as they got into their car and left. Closing back the door, she leaned against it. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath.

* * *

"So what do you think?" Temperance asked as she turned the corner of the Bradford's street and into the ongoing traffic of the boulevard. 

Ryan rubbed his temples.

"I think that this case is the weirdest case I ever had to work on. Two children disappear in a house fire yet the friend of one of the victims is saved from the flames. The body of one of the children is found in a local park near the children's school and we find out that the child has been alive for close two months after its disappearance. Nobody knows what happened to them, we have no suspects whatsoever and no motive. The fire turned out to be accidental but yet the house turns into a crime scene. Coincidence? I don't think so."

"So you think the fire wasn't accidental?"

"There was no sign of arson so it had been to accidental."

Temperance nodded.

"Want to grab some lunch? I'm starving." Ryan then asked.

She had been about to agree when Temperance felt the nagging guilt feeling in her stomach. She had a lot of work to do at the lab, she should be going there instead, her conscience told her.

"No thanks. Maybe some other time."

"Okay... how about dinner then?"

Temperance chuckled.

"Ryan, when I said some other time, I meant some other day."

Ryan sighed.

"You know, Temperance, you're a big girl. You don't need your husband telling you what to do. If he's jealous of us, then so what? He's the one with the problem considering that we are only friends and nothing more."

She didn't reply.

"It would only be a lunch between friends." Ryan assured her.

Temperance sighed. She knew that Ryan was right. It was only a lunch between friends. There was nothing going on between them yet, whenever she thought about lunch with Ryan, she now felt like she was cheating on Booth and _that_ was something she was never going to do.

Sighing, she turned to her partner and declined his invitation.

* * *

**Hopefully you all liked the chapter. I had actually written this yesterday but then something happened to my computer before I had the chance to save it (it didn't even recover it for me)so I had to rewrite it.Because of that, it is not as good as the first version. Don't you hate it when that happens?**


	6. Of Lies and Theft

**A/N: Long chapter ahead witha bit of fluff to make you guys go "Awwww". Hope you like it and don't forget to hit that review button where you're done.**

* * *

"What was that for?" Booth asked as he and Temperance slowly pulled away. 

Temperance, whom the kiss had left breathless, simply smiled. Resting her forehead against her husband's, she closed her eyes and waited for her breath to come back to normal.

"Seriously Honey, did I miss something here? Like an anniversary or something?"

"No. I just felt like showing you how much I love you." Temperance replied, her forehead still pressed against his and her eyes still closed.

"Well you showed that to me, alright. Are you sure it's not because you did something that you're now feeling guilty about and that was your way of making things better?"

"You mean like when men bring women flowers and then confess to forgetting about their two-year anniversary?" she asked teasingly as she pulled away from him, keeping her arms linked around his neck.

"Will you ever let this go, Tempe? I apologized like a zillion times."

"You didn't answer my question." Temperance replied, ignoring his comment.

"Okay, yes, sort of like when men buy women flowers for forgiveness."

"Then no, that's not what the kiss was about."

Booth chuckled before kissing her quickly once again on the lips.

"What are your plans for today?" Booth asked as he released her from his embrace and walked back to his desk.

"I'm going to St. Sebastian's with Ryan to interview Allison."

"That's the girl's best friend?" Booth asked, trying to divert his attention from the fact she was going there with Ryan.

Since his little fight with her, he had decided he would try his best not to be jealous about Ryan but so far, he was failing miserably. He had to control his anger as it shot up at the mention of Ryan's name.

"Yeah. Apparently, she was in the same room as Melina and Carl the night they disappeared so we're guessing that she must have some idea of where they went and with whom."

"I guess." Booth replied, unsure.

"What? You don't think she would know?"

"Hey I'm not thinking anything. I know you don't believe in psychology, Bones, but sometimes the mind works in mysterious ways. There's a slight possibility that her memory of that night was repressed deep in her subconscience so she wouldn't remember what was probably one of the most traumatic event of her life."

"I guess it's a possibility."

Like Booth had said, she didn't believe much in psychology. It was a soft science.

"Is that all you're doing today?"

He secretely wanted to take her out to lunch, something he hadn't done in a long time.

"No. After we interview Allison, Ryan wants to go talk to the lieutenant and the captain who were working the night of the fire to get their side of the story. Ryan thinks that maybe they saw something."

"Sounds like you'll be busy." Booth replied, disappointed. "Does this mean we shouldn't be expecting you for dinner tonight?"

Temperance's gaze dropped to the floor. What was it about her husband that made her feel guilty so easily? Nobody ever had such power over her. What was different about him? They had been together for five years but she still hadn't got her answer to her question.

Then again, she had to admit, he had the right to make her feel guilty. She had barely spent any time at home over the last couple of months.

Things had not started that way. After Temperance had brought the twins home, she had spent a full year on maternity leave, raising them and making sure that Riley was progressing as quickly as she should have been. Her and Booth had started dating once again, taking small baby steps at first and taking more giant ones after a couple of months. She had felt so at peace with everything and it had seemed to her like everything in her life was finally perfect. Russ even visited his niece and nephew every now and then.

But as much as she had loved her time spent at home, she had started missing her work greatly and had been more than happy to go back to the Jeffersonian two weeks after her twins' first birthday.

The following two years had been spent doing various lab work: identifying remains from some particular era, examining bones that were brought in by various law enforcements and, also, appearing in court as an expert witness. The FBI had found some new liaison after Booth had official resigned and accepted Cullen's new offer instead but the new agent assigned to the task hadn't taken a liking to her, therefore never made her his official partner. She was more the 'woman he needed to examine bones' than his partner. So Temperance had stayed in the lab and had watched her colleagues come and go and others get ahead, like Zach who had finally finished up his doctorate and whom everyone now called Dr. Addy.

Then Elena had come along and the two women had immediately hit it off. Elena started taking her out on the field, just like Booth had done, though less reluctantly, and Temperance helped immensly with the investigations. For almost two years, the two women had inseperable. But going back to the field had meant, for Temperance, less family time. The time she lost doing field work instead of analyzing bones at the lab had to be caught up some way. That had been when her marriage had taken a toll for the worst.

At first, Booth hadn't minded. He had figured that it was normal for her to get all worked up over field work since he knew how much she had loved it and how much she had missed it before Elena had come along. But as the months passed, she spent less and less time at home and the kids were starting to miss her, not to mention Booth as well. He had become a little more demanding and had begged her many times to take some days off and to come home at reasonable hours. At first, Temperance had obliged. Once or twice a week, she would come home for dinner time and she had even taken a couple of weeks-ends off. But that hadn't been enough for neither Booth nor the kids and soon enough, her work had become once again her main focus. Booth had simply given up.

It was when Ryan had come in the picture that Booth had gotten worried. He didn't really think his wife would actually cheat on him, especially after what he had told her about his previous girlfriend. The problem wasn't Ryan itself, it was more the relationship that he had with his wife that bothered him the most. They had just clicked from the first day they had met. There was no bickering, no differences of opinions, no mean jabs, nothing. They just... got along and any outside would have thought that they had been friends for ever even though they had just met. _That_ had been what had (and still) bothered him.

Fortunately or unfortunately for her, depending on how people looked at it, Temperance was oblivious to her husband's side of the story. She knew that it hurt him that they didn't spend as much time together as he would like but, then again, he knew way before they had gotten married how important her work was for her. He, of all people, should be able to understand that. But as much as ehs tried to make herself seem like the good person in this situation, she knew that she wouldn't succeed.

"Actually, I was thinking about spending the weekend with you and the kids."

Booth's eyes grew wide in surprise. Was she serious? No, she couldn't be. She hadn't really taken a whole weekend off in... six months. Before he even had a chance to voice his thoughts, an unexpected knock at the door was heard. Temperance turned around while Booth peered around her to see Ryan standing in the doorway.

"Are you ready?" he asked Temperance, not bothering to look at Booth.

Temperance nodded. She went around the desk and gently kissed her husband on the forehead.

"See you tonight." She whispered in his ear.

She turned back towards the door and walked out of the office.

* * *

The ride to St. Sebastian's turned out awfully quiet. Ryan had fallen into this strange anger-filled silence that Temperance hadn't seem to notice. Her mind had been focused on the tasks ahead. They would have to find a way to make an eight-year-old girl tell them what happened on the probably only traumatic night in her entire life. Booth was right, she had admit. There was a slight possibility that Allison had blocked the whole incident. 

She turned into the parking lot of the school for the second time this week, feeling a little apprehensive. Ryan still hadn't opened his mouth and it didn't look like it was going to be his intention as he opened his car door and got out as soon as the ignition had been turned off.

Temperance skipped behind him to catch up but only succeeded when they got to the door of the school. Realizing suddenly that he hadn't spoken to her since they had left the FBI headquarters, she wondered what his problem was. Why wasn't he talking to her?

They immediately headed for the secretary's desk and Ryan asked to speak to Allison Martin. The secretary nodded before grabbing her phone and dialing some number. She talked for a few seconds to the person at the other end of the line before hanging up somewhat harshly. She told the two partenrs to sit on the chairs lined against the wall across from her desk, adding that Allison's teacher would soon be bringing her. Apparently, the child had been in gym class.

Ryan nodded and sat down on the assigned chair. Temperance immediately followed. They sat in silence for a few seconds before Temperance, not able to take her parnter's silent treatment a second longer, turned to face him.

"You're awfully quiet today." She whispered, not wanting to disturb the silence of the St. Sebastian's.

The school was a bit too quiet for her. She felt like she had walked in a church and, if she would remain quiet long enough, she would be able angels chanting somewhere between the walls of St. Sebastian's. Her own private school had certainly not been like that.

"I'm not feeling too well." Ryan replied, harshly.

"It it something I did?"

_If kissing your husband is what is bothering me, then yes, it is something you did._ Ryan thought to himself.

"No. I just got bad news, that's all."

"What kind of bad news?"

A teacher turned the corner at the exact moment, preventing Temperance of getting the answer to her question. Ryan immediately got to his feet and walked up to the newcomer. He recognized her as being his son's former teacher and smiled warmly at the woman. He knew that the teacher was middle-aged even though she didn't look a day over thirty.

His eyes then fell on the little girl standing beside the adult. She was shorter than he had expected, had bright blue eyes and long auburn hair. He couldn't help but think thta she looked like his partner. He immediately pushed that thought aside. This wasn't the time nor the place.

"Allison?" Ryan asked, tentatively.

The little girl nodded. Ryan crouched down to be at her height.

"I'm Ryan and this is my partner Temperance, but you can call her Tempe." He said, pointing to his partner.

Allison followed his motions.

"We would have a couple of questions we would like to ask you."

Allison looked up nervously at her teacher who simply nodded reassuringly. Bringing her eyes back to Ryan, she smiled shyly.

"Is there a room where we could talk to her in private?" Ryan asked the teacher, standing back up.

"The teacher's lounge will be empty for another hour or so."

"Perfect." Ryan replied before looking back down at the child. "Come with us. I promise it won't take long and you'll be able to go back to gym class very soon."

Allison fearfully followed the two partners into the teacher's lounge, her heart racing inside her chest. The last time something like this had happened...

"_If you tell ANYONE..." the voice had told her._

Allison gulped as she stepped in the lounge and the door closed behind her.

* * *

"Well that was useless." Ryan sighed as they climbed in Temperance's car. 

Temperance could do nothing but agree with her partner. Forty minutes of questioning had brought no answers to their questions. Allison hadn't told them anything that they didn't already know.

"_Allison, we have a few questions to ask you about the fire at your friend's house six months ago."_

_Allison's expression had just seemed to shut off at the mention of the fire. Neither partners had been able to detect what she was feeling or thinking._

"_You were rescued by a fire fighter and brought back to safety outside but Melina and her brother didn't. We need you to tell us why."_

"Maybe it was the way you introduced it to her." Temperance guessed as she drove out of the parking lot.

"Excuse me?" Ryan said, taken aback by her accusation.

"Well you sort of just threw all of it in her face. You could have been more gentle."

"And how else was I supposed to present this to her?"

Temperance fell silent.

_Allison had looked down at the table, refusing to meet either of their gaze. Ryan had asked his question a second time but was once again rewarded by silence. Sighing, he had leant back in his chair._

"_Allison, I know how tough this must be for you." Temperance had told the little girl._

"_How do you know?"_

_Her voice had been small and squeaky and Temperance wondered if the child was going to start crying._

"_I've seen a lot of little girls in your position and I know that it was tough for them."_

_Allison looked at her suspiciously. This woman just didn't understand._

_Her attempt at winning Allison's trust had failed. She didn't know how the little girl was feeling and Allison knew it. She had never really been in her position before and she hardly doubted that having her own parents disappear was the exact same thing._

"_Allison, we need to find out what happened to Melina and Carl and you're the only one who can help us."_

"_I am?"_

_Her tone had been hopeful and Temperance had smiled._

"_Of course you are. You're the only one who was in thesame room as them when the night of the fire. You managed to be rescued but they didn't. You know what happened to them. I know you're scared, Allison, but you have to help us. If you do, we'll be able to find Carl and Melina."_

"If you ever tell ANYONE..."

_Allison shook her head no. She wasn't going to tell._

"_Why are you shaking your head?" Ryan had asked gently, who had regained hope to get something out of the child._

"Okay, I admit it." Ryan said after a while. "Maybe I could have been gentler. I should have known, I mean, I have children and when I want them to admit something, I don't just shove it in their face."

"It's okay, Ryan. You weren't feeling well and it's just the way the words came out. There's no need to beat yourself over the head with it."

Ryan nodded and smiled. His Temperance was back, the caring and sweet-loving woman that he knew and adored.

"So do you believe her story?" Temperance asked.

"I'm still debating on that." Her partner replied.

"_I don't know what to say." Allison pleaded._

"_Just tell us what happened from the moment you went to bed and the moment you were brought outside by the fireman."_

_Allison had tried getting away with it by crying like she could do with her parents but she soon realized that it would never lead to anything with the two adults sitting across from her. She gave up after a few minutes and she decided that the only way to make the questions stop was if she told them what she knew or, at least, parts of what she knew. The threat still echoed through her mind._

"_Melina's mom tucked us in and she left the room. Melina, Carl and me, we stayed up talking. We heard the water running and we guessed that Melina's mom was going to take a bath. Mel had an idea. She asked us if we wanted candy and we said yes. So we got up and sneaked downstairs to get chocolate and cookies. Then we sneaked back into the room. Melina's mom didn't see anything. We ate cookies and chocolate but we were getting sleepy so we went to bed after that. When I woke up, it was really hot in the room. Someone lifted me off the ground and carried me outside."_

"_Were Melina and Carl still in the room?"_

_Allison gulped._

"_I don't know. I didn't see them."

* * *

_

"Well, we're here." Temperance said as she pulled in the Fire Department's parking lot.

"Let's just hope that this interview goes better than the other one." Ryan said as they got out of the car.

Temperance agreed.

They were welcomed by a fireman named Bronson who led them to an office on the second floor.

"Lieutenant Foley and Captain Tracey are in there waiting for you." The man replied, pointing at the door, before going back down the hallway.

Temperance and Ryan looked at one another before Ryan knocked on the door.

* * *

"I just can't believe it." Ryan said for what seemd to him like the hundredth time that day. "If the fire fighters came even help us with our investigation, I wonder who can. And a fire fighter suit theft? I mean, what the hell?" 

"I know, I'm getting a hard time believing this too." Temperance replied as she turned into the ongoing traffic of the avenue. "But do you think it's something important to the investigation?"

"I'm not sure yet. I mean, it would be highly coincidental that a fire fighter suit disappears two weeks before the house fire and not be linked to it."

Ryan sighed.

"Here's what I think. Let me know if it makes any sense."

"Okay."

"Whoever stole the suit is our murderer. Posing as a fireman, he kidnapped two of the three children that were in the room."

"But the fire was accidental. How could that man have known there would be a fire that night?"

"Don't ask. I haven't figured that out yet."

"And why didn't he kidnap Allison as well? Why leave her?"

"Maybe he didn't get the chance to. Maybe when he came back, Allison was already gone."

"I guess it makes sense. I don't know."

"Well what's your theory?"

Temperance chuckled.

"You know I don't work with theories. I work with facts and hard evidence."

"Sorry Dr. Booth." Ryan mocked as he glanced sideways at his partner.

He looked at the time. They had spent nearly two hours with the lieutenant and the captain. It was nearly time for dinner.

"Wanna go out for dinner?" he asked, knowing fully well what she was going to answer.

"I can't." Temperance replied. "I have a date."

He stared at her in disbelief.

"You have a date?"

"Yeah, with my family."

* * *

_Sorry for the lack of interview in this chapter but I was finding it long enough already. Coming soon: fluff! Please review and I might post really soon:-)_


	7. Family Time

**A/N: Wow! I think that's the longest chapter I have ever written in my entire life! Anyway, as Tempe promised, here is the family-date time everybody has been waiting for. So sorry it took a long time to come. Hopefully I will have time to work more on my stories now that I'm working full-time.**

* * *

The bright September sun fell on her through the half-shut drapes and pulled Temperance from her slumber. She turned around to find an empty space beside her. Obviously Booth was already awake which was weird considering she hadn't noticed he had woken up. What time was it? Her eyes, still too tired, refused to open.

She listened intently to see if she could make out any noise in the house. Everything was quiet. She knew that Parker would still be asleep in his room until, at least, ten o'clock and that the twins would wake up around eight or eight-thirty since they had gone to bed fairly late the previous night. Booth, happy to have his wife home on a Friday night, had treated everyone to a movie which, Temperance had to admit, hadn't been that bad. Although move animation had gotten better and better over the years, that movie had been pretty well done and Temperance learned that it had been Parker's favorite movie when he had been a kid. She had gone to bed two hours after the movie had ended with a song from the movie stuck in her head that had gone something like _"just keep swimming, just keep swimming"_.

She had been about to drift back to sleep when she was suddenly awaken by giggles. She recognized them immediately. How many times had she heard them in the five past years?

* * *

"Sshh!" Lukas told his sister as they walked down the corridor to their parents' bedroom. "Don't make too much noise, you'll wake Mommy up."

"No I won't." Riley replied, indignantly.

"Yes you will."

"Well isn't it what we want? To wake her up?"

"No."

"Okay you two, that's enough." Booth whispered as they stopped in front of the bedroom door.

Booth pushed it open so the twins could walk in easily and not drop the tray they were holding in their hands. Their eyes immediately fell on their mother.

"She's still asleep, Dad." Lukas said. "What do we do?"

Forcing her eyes opened, she saw her two children standing beside the bed, holding what seemed to her still sleepy eyes to be a tray covered with delicious food. Her stomach growled, making her wonder how come she was so hungry. She barely ever ate in the morning. Was it possible that it was later than she had thought?

" 'Morning sleepyhead." Booth said as he sat down on the bed beside his wife and kissed her on the forehead.

"What time is it?" Temperance replied, sitting up in her bed.

"It's past ten." Booth replied, smirking. "You're the last one to wake up. Even Parker got up before you. The twins wanted to say thank you for coming home early last night so they made you breakfast."

Booth relieved his children of the tray and laid it on his wife's knees. He watched as she grabbed the fork and started picking at her omelette.

"Daddy let me flip the egg." Riley said, proudly.

"Wow Rye! That's great!" Temperance replied, cheerfully.

"Yeah and I didn't even drop it!"

"That's fantastic!"

Putting down her fork, she grabbed the buttered toasts laying on the upper right side of the plate.

"And I made the toasts and I didn't burn them this time." Lukas said as he climbed up on the bed and went to sit on the other side of his mother.

"You're surely getting good at this, Luke. And what did Daddy do?"

"He set everything on the tray."

"Yeah, that's all he did." Riley said in a tone almost disapproving.

"Well that's still a lot. Thank you Daddy." Temperance replied, looking up at her husband.

"You're welcome, Mommy." Booth said as he leaned forward and gave her a quick kiss on the lips.

"Eeeewww..." both kids said at the same time.

Booth and Temperance laughed as they pulled away.

Temperance ate in silence for a while, simply listening to Riley's babbling about what she had done at school in the past days. She seemed so proud of herself that Temperance couldn't help but feel proud as well. Her daughter apparently loved her school and was no longer saddnened at the thought that her brother was at some other school. She had made friends quickly with girls who had similar problems to her own and Temperance was really happy about it.

"What do you have planned for today, Daddy?" Temperance asked, after Riley's babbling had ceased.

"I promised Lukas three weeks ago that as soon as school had started that we could give him a try at biking with no training wheels."

Temperance's eyes widened in surprise. Biking with no training wheels? Was he even old enough for it? Temperance voiced her questions.

"Of course he's old enough, Bones." Booth replied. "Don't go all overprotective on him. He's a big boy."

"Yeah Mom. I'm a big boy." Lukas added. "I know I can do it."

"I don't doubt it, Honey, but it just seems so soon."

"He's growing up." Booth replied. "Come on, what's the worst thing that can happen to him?"

"He could fall and hurt himself."

"Of course but that's how you learn. Everybody does. You fall, sometimes you hurt yourself but you get up and you try again."

Temperance nodded. She guessed he was right. After all, Parker had learned to bike with no training wheels at the same age as his brother. Besides, if it didn't work out, he could always go back to training wheels.

She finished her breakfast before shooing everybody out of the room so she could go take a shower.

"Even me?" Booth asked, pouting.

"Yes, even you." Temperance replied, chuckling and shaking her head.

As the water wash all of this week's stress away, Temperance couldn't help but think about the last time she had taken a Saturday off. It had been a least six months ago, if not more. She'd definetely do it again, especially if it meant getting breakfast in bed.

She hadn't realized how much she had missed spending time with her family over the last few days. Guilt swept through her. It wasn't that she didn't love her kids. She really did. But she also loved her job.

Temperance shook her head. There was going to be no thinking about work today. Her entire focus would stay on her family. There would be no skeletons, no Ryan, no interviews, no Melina in her thoughts. Not today, at least. There was always tomorrow.

She took her time in the shower and finally came out twenty-five minutes later, pretty sure that she had used up all of the hot water. Her bathroom was steamy and she immediately felt shivers the second she walked into her adjacent bedroom. She immediately noticed Booth sitting on their bed, looking at her.

"Are you going to watch me change?" Temperance asked, a bit shy.

"Of course."

Temperance nodded, somewhat unsure, but didn't shoo him away. Carefully picking out an outfit, she got dressed under the admiring stare of her husband. She blushed slightly when he told her she was beautiful. She never really got used to it.

Minutes later, her head was thrown in a loose poneytail, clothes thrown on her body and Booth and Temperance were walking down the stairs together. As she passed the front door, Temperance glanced outside. Not a cloud in sight.

* * *

"You ready Luke?" Booth asked.

"Yes Dad."

"Okay, buddy, I'm going to hold you until you tell me it's time for me to let go."

"Okay Dad."

Temperance watched as her son started peddling. Booth walked behind him, holding the seat with one hand to steady the bike. She had to admit, Lukas was doing pretty good and soon enough, he was telling his father to let go. Booth complied slowly and stopped walking as he watched Lukas peddling away down the street. Temperance felt tears of pride sting at the back of her eyes. She couldn't believe he was actually doing it.

"Okay Luke. Come back!" Booth called out when Lukas had practically reached the corner of the street.

They watched as their son turned around and came wobblingly peddling back. He had almost reached them when he lost control of his bike and crashed onto the grass beside him. Temperance gasped involuntarily while Booth walked up to his son. Lukas immediately got up and examined his hand. They were full of dirt but they had survived the fall without any scratches. He looked up at his father who was staring down at him with concern.

"Are you okay?" Booth asked him.

"Of course." Lukas replied.

"Would you like to try again?"

His heart was still pounding in his chest from watching his son fall off his bike. At least he had fallen in the grass. As he asked his question, he secretly hoped that Lukas would say no. But Booth knew better than that. Lukas was a thrill-seeker just like his father. He would get right back on that bike and try again.

"Well yeah, that's how you learn. You fall, sometimes you hurt yourself but you get up and you try again."

Lukas looked at his father, his marvoulous twinkle appearing in his eyes. Booth simply laughed at his son's words, ruffled his hair and gently pushed him towards his bike. Walking to Temperance, he smiled.

"He's fine and he wants to try it again." Booth said.

Temperance only nodded.

They watched once again as Lukas got on his bike. The bike wobbled once again as Lukas started peddling and threatned to fall on its side but Lukas kept it in control. He managed to bike to the corner and back without falling. When he breaked in front of his parents, minutes later, a proud smile lit his features.

"See Mom. I told you I could do it." He said, proudly. "Dad, can we do it again?"

"Tell you what. Why don't we all get our bikes and we do a quick spin around the block?"

"Yeah please, Dad. Can we? It would so cool!"

Booth looked over at Temperance who nodded. Surely a small ride around the block wouldn't hurt.

"Come help me get the bikes, Luke." Booth said as he walked off towards the garage.

Temperance turned to look at them and she wondered when had Booth learned to become such a great father. She remembered him with Parker at the beginning of their relationship but she couldn't remember him being so good with kids. Maybe it had been something he had slowly picked up along the way and had been so subtle that Temperance hadn't noticed. She secretly admired him for it. She would never be as good as a father as he was a father. There was no chance.

She felt something tucking at her pants. She looked down to see Riley looking up at her. She knew that look. She knew Riley was going to ask her something and Temperance had a small idea of what it was going to be.

"Mommy, I'd like to try too."

She had been right. Temperance gulped. What was she going to tell the little girl?

She doubted that Riley was ready for this. Her maturity and language skills were those of a three-year-old but she wasn't quite sure if her motricity was also. She had learned to walk at thirteen months old whereas Lukas was not even a year old when he had taken his first steps. Six months before her fourth birthday, Temperance and Booth had finally succeeded at potty-training their daughter and Riley had started eating on her own. Then again, the child had made so much progress since then that Temperance could barely refuse her request.

She looked back at her daughter before looking up at her husband.

"Hey, Booth!"

Booth came out of the garage.

"What is it?"

"Riley would like to try biking without her training wheels too."

She watched as her husband's expression changed. _Uh oh._

"Sure. Why not?"

Seconds later, Booth was walking down the driveway holding his daughter's bike in one hand and his tools in the other. He unscrewed the wheels as Riley jumped for joy and hurried him to get it done. Finally, after what seemed like ages to her, she climbed on her bike, her dad holding it firmly by the seat.

"We'll do the exact same thing I did with Lukas. I'll hold you until you tell me to let go."

Riley nodded and started peddling.

She was a little less adventurous than her brother and took a longer time before building up the confidence to tell her dad to let go. Booth reluctantly let go of the bike but stayed close behind her. As she picked up speed, Booth was no longer able to catch up with her. Besides, she needed the confidence that she could do it alone, Booth thought. Lukas and Temperance had walked up to him and they watched in amazement as Riley peddled steadily to the other end of the street.

Parker, who had come out of the house, joined them in the street. He watched his little sister in great surprise.

"Dad, she's doing it!" Parker said, shocked.

"I know." Booth replied, full of pride.

"How is she doing this?" Temperance then asked.

"I seriously have no clue."

Just as her brother had done, Riley turned around at the stop sign and peddled back towards her parents. She could see on their face that they were proud of her. She could hardly believe it herself. She was biking without her training wheels, just like her brother.

She breaked in front of her entire family who watched her in awe.

"I did it!" she exclaimed proudly as she jumped off her bike.

"You sure did!"

It was all that Temperance was able to say.

* * *

The quick spin around the block turned into an hour bike-ride as Temperance and her family hit the streets of their suburban neighborhood. Booth in front, Temperance closed the group at the end, with the kids in the middle. She watched in amazement as Riley and Lukas peddled as fast as they could. Neither of them had fallen at all, even if they both seemed close to it a couple of times.

Temperance wondered at how Riley was actually doing this. She would definetely have to talk to her doctor. Could it be possible that Riley would only be behind mentally and not physically as well? She truly hoped so.

Back at home, Riley and Lukas went for a small nap, exhausted by their ride. Temperance decided to work on her novel while Booth watched TV downstairs. The house was calm, Parker having decided to spend the rest of the afternoon with his friends.

Two hours later, Riley and Lukas were appearing in the study downstairs and begging for food.

"Daddy is gone to get some food, kids. It won't be too long."

The answer seemed to satisfy the kids.

Booth came back thirty minutes after having left with plenty of chinese food. Riley was climbing onto her chair in the living room when Booth shook his head.

"Not tonight, sweetie. We're eating in the living room."

"Really?" Riley asked, her eyes growing wide in surprise.

"Yes. We're eating chinese food so we're going to eat it just like the chinese."

"The japanese eat on the floor, Booth. Not the chinese."

"The chinese do too, Bones. It's part of their asian culture."

Temperance simply shrugged.

The whole family sat down on the floor. Temperance filled her children's plates with as much food as they could eat. She wasn't sure if they'd actually like it but it was worth the shot. They had surprised her at biking today, they could surprise her at dinner as well.

Dinner turned out great. The children loved the food and Temperance really felt like they were a family again. Booth, who had kept a small distance between her and him, had scooted over closer to her. They talked, they laughed and, for the first time in a long time, Temperance really felt happy. She couldn't remember the last time, if there was actually one, where they had had so much fun over dinner.

Temperance was clearing the coffee table when she heard Booth announced that they were going to the park. She replied that she'd meet them in a few minutes. Seconds later, she heard the front door close behind her.

As she put the dishes in the washing machine, she thought about her pregnancy. It seemed so far ago today. She remembered the jitters she had felt just before giving birth. She had been scared to death at the thought of raising twins. But, as she had held her children in her arms for the first time, all of her worries had melted away. She had felt a love so great towards these little things that she never thought she would ever feel for another human being.

The first year had been incredible. She had seen them grow up, start teething, make their first steps, say their first words. She remembered holding them for hours as she tried to put them to sleep or to feed them. And now, they were all grown up and Temperance couldn't remember the last time she had held either of them for more than ten minutes. They were too active and independent and she found that she missed it. She missed holding a small baby in her arms.

Fifteen minutes later, she was stepping out of the house and walking towards the park. She looked at her watch. It was past six-thirty. The kids would barely have an hour to play before they would have to walk back home for bath time.

When she arrived at the park, Riley and Lukas were already running all over the place, chasing their friends around the park. She spotted Booth sitting on a picnic table with the Kellerman's, their neighbors. She immediately joined them.

"Hey Temperance." Julie Kellerman said as Tempe sat beside Booth. "We haven't seen you in a while. How have you been?"

And as she watched her kids run around the park, she answered that she could have been better.

* * *

Temperance stopped in front of her son's bedroom on her way to her own bedroom. It was past eleven and she was tired. Booth had already retreated to bed an hour before and she was on her way to join him.

She watched her son lovingly. He had fallen asleep the second his head had hit the pillow, exhausted from all the exercise he had done that day. He was sprawled on his stomach, on top of his sheets, his blonde hair spiked by sweat. At that moment, she felt a great urge to have another child. She had felt it in the kitchen after dinner but it hadn't been as strong as right now.

She stepped inside the room and walked up to her son's bed. Sitting down beside him, she gently brushed her hand against in his hair and bent down, giving him a small kiss on the temple. She then got up and walked to her bedroom.

She quietly walked in her room to find him laying on his back, his eyes closed. But the lamp and his irregular breath told him that he wasn't sleeping. Slowly, she changed into her PJs before climbing into bed beside her husband. She cuddled against him.

"Booth?"

"Yeah babe?"

"I want another baby."

She heard him sigh deeply. His hand reached up to stroke her hair.

"Tell you what. After your new investigation is done, we'll talk about it. You really need to think about it before you make that decision. Now I'm not saying no to having another baby but I'm not saying yes."

Temperance nodded, sadly. She hadn't expected that answer from him but she knew he was right. It wasn't something they couldn't plan. She closed her eyes and immediately fell asleep.

* * *

_2:14 am_

"Booth." Temperance stated, sleepily, after picking up her cellphone.

She was only greeted by the sound of silence. She looked at the caller ID: _private number_.

* * *

**Please review and tell me what you think. Reviews motivate me:-)**


	8. The Head Forensic Anthropologist

**A/N: I'm happy you all liked the family-date time. Hope you like this chapter as well. It's a bit different.**

* * *

Temperance's shoes echoed through the halls of the Jeffersonian as the doctor made her way to her office, a bright smile plastered on her face. She greeted everybody she passed on the way and barely noticed their weird expression and the tone in which they replied. The ones who knew her also knew that Temperance Booth was not a morning person, so did not greet anybody until she had had her first cup of coffee. Yet, today, here she was greeting even strangers. If only one of them would have stopped to ask her why she was such in a great mood, she would have told them about the wonderful week-end she had spent with her family.

At her door, Temperance took out her keys and unlocked her door. Opening it, she stepped inside and flicked on the light to find Ryan already sitting on her couch. She jumped, startled.

"What are you doing here?" she asked him as she walked to her desk and dropped the bag in which she carried her laptop. "Actually, let me rephrase this. What are you doing here, sitting in the dark?"

Ryan turned to his partner.

"I was thinking about the case. The dark helps me think."

Temperance nodded, unsure. Sitting down, she fought the urge to ask him how he had gotten in, considering he didn't have the key to unlock the door. For some unknown reason, she kept her question to herself and waited patiently in silence as her computer booted up. She typed in her password and checked her e-mails. She had none. She turned to Ryan.

"Did you come up with anything over the week-end?"

"Not really. I talked to the father again, over the phone this time, but he still wasn't keen on talking to me. The call didn't even last five minutes. I looked over the file to see if perhaps there was something I had missed but found nothing that I didn't already know. The fire _was_ accidental, the kids _didn't_ die in the fire and _were _actually kidnapped."

"Nothing that we didn't already know, I agree."

Ryan examined his partner's expression. She had that strange look upon her face and if he was reading her correctly, and he most likely was, she was hiding something from him. He knew that look. She was debating whether or not to tell him.

"What's the matter?" The agent asked.

Temperance shook her head.

"Nothing. I was just thinking..."

"Tempe, I know that look. There's something you're not telling me. What is it?"

She turned her attention back to her computer. She wasn't sure whether or not she should mention the strange phone call from Saturday night. After all, it could have just been a coincidence and actually have nothing to do with the case. It could have been one of Russ' children playing a trick on their aunt.

_Don't be ridiculous, Brennan. Your brother's kids are younger than yours._

His stepchildren then?

As she continued to debate whether or not to talk, Ryan stood up.

"Where are you going?"

"Well if you don't feel like sharing your piece of information, I might as well leave. I have plenty of work piled on my desk at the Bureau. I'm probably more useful there than here."

Temperance sighed.

"Ryan, just sit down. I'll tell you what's wrong."

Going back to the couch, Ryan smiled to himself. If parenting had taught him one thing was that reverse psychology worked almost all of the time, no matter who the person was.

_And she says she doesn't believe in psychology. _He thought as he sat down. He wondered how she would react if he told her what exactly had just happened.

"I'm listening." He told her instead.

Leaning forward, he rested his forearms on his thighs and looked expectantly at the doctor sitting in front of him.

"Saturday night, I got a phone call."

"Okay..." Ryan replied, unsure of where she was going. "At what time?"

"It was a little past two in the morning."

Ryan looked at her, questioningly.

"A little late for a phone call, don't you think?"

"That's what I thought."

"Who called?"

"I don't know. The person didn't say anything and my caller ID said the call came from a private number."

"Do you know anybody who's number is private?"

"Other than yours and some people who work here, no, I don't."

Ryan nodded.

"I could try to trace the call if you want."

Temperance shook her head.

"It won't be necessary."

"Okay but if it ever happens again, let me know. This could be our killer."

"I hardly doubt it, Ryan."

"And _I _wouldn't be so sure if I were you."

Ryan got up and walked out of the office, leaving his partner behind him. Temperance shook her head once again, to herself this time. The caller couldn't have been the killer. How would he have gotten her number? No, it was just someone she knew. Maybe it had been Angela.

Getting up, she mentally prepared herself for what was coming today. There would probably be remains to analyze, as always. Finding confidence in the fact that at least she wouldn't have to think about that strange call, she went on her way to the morning staff meeting.

* * *

"Dr. Addy will be performing the examination." Dr. Goodman said as he wrote down Zach's name beside Body #4 on the black board.

Temperance's heart skipped a beat at her boss' statement and her hand shot up in the air. It was impossible. Zach couldn't get first pick.

"Yes, Dr. Booth?" Goodmain said, knowing fully well what the words coming out of her mouth were going to be.

"Dr. Goodman, shouldn't I have priority on the remains?"

She glanced briefly at Zach, who had turned a deep shade of red, then back to her boss who was looking at her disapprovingly and somewhat nervously.

"I'm sorry Dr. Booth but the local police specifically asked for Dr. Addy's expertise. I cannot go against their will."

"But I'm head anthropologist here. I should have the priority."

Dr. Goodman sighed.

"I hear you loud and clear, Dr. Booth but the decision is final. Dr. Addy will work with Body #4 while you concentrate on Bodies #6 and #8."

Turning towards the black board, he wrote _Dr. Temperance Booth_ beside the two bodies. Temperance growled silently.

"The remains of two children were discovered in a dumpster near a McDonald's. Dr. Black will perform the autopsy..."

Temperance had already tuned out.

* * *

She quickly walked back to her office, oblivious to the footsteps following closely behind her. She walked in the room and would have closed the door shut if Angela hadn't been there to make sure she wasn't going to collide with a closing door.

She sat down at her desk. Dropping her head in her hands, she closed her eyes and relived this morning's staff meeting. _Dr. Addy's expertise?_ Since when had Zach gotten better at his job than she was? If it hadn't been for her, he would have still been a student to this day and would have never finished his doctorate before becoming a certified forensic anthropologist.

"Are you okay?"

Angela's voice startled her.

_Relax Brennan. You're so edgy today._

She turned to her best friend.

"I'm fine."

Her tone was sharp and her voice was cool.

"Don't play dumb with me, Brennan. I know something's not right."

Even though she had been married to Booth for three years, Angela still called her Brennan, much like Temperance herself sometimes did.

Temperance sighed in frustration.

"I'm the head forensic anthropologist here yet Zach gets priority on remains."

Angela nodded knowingly before walking to her friend's desk and sitting on the corner.

"It's okay to feel jealous at the beginning but don't you think you could get over it? I mean, Zach's been an official forensic anthropologist ever since you and Booth got married."

"Yes but nobody ever asked that _he_ be the only one who examines a body. I'm the head forensic anthropologist here."

"I know. You said that already."

"I should get consulted when decisions like that are made."

"Zach didn't _choose_ to be become the local police's favorite. He's only doing his job and right now, he thinks you're mad at him."

Temperance looked at her best friend, puzzled. Why on earth would Zach think she was mad at him? He hadn't done anything. Suddenly, she felt rather stupid for getting all worked up.

"Yeah I guess you're right."

Angela's eyes grew wide in surprise.

"Did you just admit that I was right?" Angela asked, teasingly.

Temperance chuckled.

"Yes but don't get used to it."

Angela nodded as she laughed.

"So how was your week-end with your family?"

Temperance couldn't help the smile that spread immediately over her face. The last week-end had been the greatest one she had had in years. She told her best friend so.

"What did you guys do?"

"Well Saturday, I got breakfast in bed."

Angela's jaw dropped. Breakfast in bed? She couldn't remember the last time Booth had done that for her best friend. She squeeled in happiness and Temperance's smile grew larger.

"Then Booth took the kids outside and he taught them how to ride their bikes without their training wheels."

"Did Riley do it?"

"Yes and she was even better than her brother. Booth bought chinese food for dinner and then we went to the park to play. Sunday, Booth's brother and wife came over and we had barbecue for dinner. It was an amazing week-end, Ange! You have no idea."

"Sounds that way. Maybe you'll spend more time at home now."

"I guess I should, huh? Especially if I want another baby."

"You what?" Angela asked, surprised.

Her best friend, the one who never really wanted children in the first place, now wanted another one?

_The world is coming to an end._ She thought. She laughed inwardly at her thought.

"I want another baby." Temperance replied, calmly.

"Does Booth know about this?"

Seriousness had come back.

"Yes, I told him Saturday night."

"And what did he say?"

"He told me to wait until my case was over and then we would talk about it again."

"Wise answer."

"What do you mean?"

Angela looked away from her friend for a split second. It was obvious she was uncomfortable with what she was about to say. She knew her best friend was a good mother and that she was doing the best she could with her but she had secretly disapproved her friend's behavior over the last months. Temperance, who had been abandoned by her parents, was now abandoning her own children.

"Well he only wants to make sure that you'll be home to take care of it. It's one thing to want one now but it's another thing to still want it once it's there."

Temperance nodded. That's what Booth had said Sunday morning when she had asked him what he had meant by she should wait until her case was over.

Angela, not wanting to upset her friend, changed the subject.

"Ryan mentioned a strange call to me just before he left."

Temperance's head shot up. Ryan had talked to Angela? Why? He hated Angela.

"Who do you think it came from?" she asked.

"Ryan thinks it's the killer but I don't think so. How would he have gotten my cellphone number?"

Angela shrugged.

The sound of a bell was heard and Temperance turned to her computer screen. _You have a new message_ was written at the bottom left side of her screen. She clicked on the message and a new window popped up. She turned to Angela who was looking at her questioningly.

"Who's it from?"

Temperance turned back to her screen but was unable to respond. What she saw sent chills up her spine.

* * *

**bites nails nervously See you in the next chapter. :-)**


	9. James Collins

**A/N: I'm glad you liked the last chapter. Get the answer to your question in this one.**

**Rating: Something else new for me. The beginning of this chapter is a near M. But since I can't really change the story's entire rating just for one chapter, you have been warned.**

**Disclaimer: Also, I own nothin' except Ryan and the Bradford kids.

* * *

**

"Don't worry Booth." Temperance said, exasperated.

Booth chuckled sarcastically.

"You don't want me to worry? Temperance, can I remind you everything that has happened over the last few days? First there was this call in the middle of the night from some unknown person and _today_ you receinve an e-mail with a picture of a badly beaten body on it. Do you even know who it was anyway?"

"I don't discuss ongoing investigations." Temperance replied, hoping to change the subject.

The body was badly beaten and beyond recognition but a FBI coroner had analyzed the picture and, much to Temperance's own conclusions, the doctor had come up with an eight- or nine-year-old girl. Immediately all thoughts were turned to Melina, the last of the two victim in the Bradford children disappearance. Ryan and Temperance had exchanged opinions and they had both agreed that time was running out. Either this was a picture of a dead Melina or she was still alive somewhere in the city, with only a few hours to live. Ryan had then jumped on his cellphone and dialed the number to St. Sebastian's. Another interview with Allison would be necessary and was scheduled for the next morning.

Booth's eyes followed his wife as she got ready to go to bed. He watched as she took off her shirt and bra and he groaned in response. Temperance turned around.

"What?" she asked, teasingly.

"You're so hot."

"Careful, Booth. You're drooling."

"So I am. I've done worst over your body."

Temperance felt her cheeks burn. She couldn't believe that, after all these years, she still wasn't used to Booth getting a little dirty with her. She watched as his eyes grew darker in lust for the fourth time in four days.

She resumed getting ready for bed, pulling on a tank top over her and climbing into bed beside her husband. The second her head hit the pillow, she reached for the lamp beside her bed and turned it off. The room was thrown in absolute darkness. She felt someone towering over her and, seconds later, felt lips on her neck. She immediately ran her hands through her husband's hair.

"Does this mean we can try for a third baby?" she asked, hopeful.

"Nope." Booth replied before kissing his way down to her throat. "But we can practice making one."

* * *

The ring of her cellphone rose Temperance from her slumber. Reaching out for it, she snatched it from the nightstand and checked out the caller ID. She sighed in frustration. It was the private number again. She set it down back on the nightstand and turned on her side. Snuggling against her husband, she tried to fall back asleep but her mind was now fully awake. She thought of the unknown number. Who could be calling her?

She looked up at the clock in front of her. It was a little past five in the morning. Who would even be up at this time of day? A weird feeling crept through her. Someone who wouldn't want to get caught maybe.

Sighing, she gave up trying to fall back asleep. She got up, wrapped her bathrobe around her and walked out of the room. The hallway was quiet and the only sound was made by her bare feet on the hardwood floor. She quietly made her way downstairs, checking in on her twins as she passed in front of their respective bedrooms.

In the kitchen, she began preparing the morning's coffee. As she mechanically went around her kitchen, her mind was thrown to the case and the mysterious things that had happened over the last few days. The picture in the e-mail had been chilling. Ryan's gut had told him that the girl was Melina but even though his gut feeling had then been comfirmed by the coroner's examination, Temperance chose not to believe it. If the little girl on the picture had been in fact Melina, then the little girl was in great danger, if she hadn't died from her injuries already.

If it were in fact Melina, new questions now arose: where was she? Was she okay now? Was she dead? Where was she kept? Who was her abductor and why had she been kidnapped? Her little brother had been found in a local park. Would Melina undergo the same fate?

She fixed herself some breakfast and ate it silently, enjoying her moment of tranquility and solitude. She was rarely ever alone anymore. When she wasn't surrounded by her colleagues at work, it was her kids who kept her company at home. Moments of silence like she was experiencing this particular morning came seldomly. She welcomed it with open arms.

After breakfast, Temperance realized that it was nearly six-fifteen. Forty-five more minutes and her kids would be up, demanding food and eating it so quickly that their mother would fear a stomach ache. She'd have less than fifty minutes to make them eat, dress the both of them, comb her daughter's wild hair and make them brush their teeth. There was just something between children and toothbrushes. The two of them just didn't seem to get along.

She cleared the table and set down her empty plate in the sink. She trotted back upstairs and to her room, grabbing a towel from the pantry on her own. Locking herself in her bathroom, she turned on the water and climbed in the tub for a very warm shower.

Twenty minutes later, she was stepping out of the shower and into a very foggy bathroom. The door was ajar making Temperance believe if Booth was already up and had come into the bathroom. Wrapping a towel around herself, she opened the door and stepped in the cold of her room.

Her bed was empty and Temperance could hear a faint noise coming from the kitchen. Booth was awake. He had probably peeked in to see if she had been in the shower before going downstairs to fix himself some breakfast.

She dried her hair before getting dressed. She looked at the clock: 6:50. Might as well head from Lukas's room to wake him up. It would take ten minutes to drag him out of her bed anyway.

Her son's room was quiet and dark when she walked in. She could hear the boy's steady breathing as she walked past his bed to flip the drapes open. A ray of sun entered the room. She sat down on the bed and gently rocked her son.

"Lukas." She whispered. "Sweetie, it's time to get up."

Her son rolled onto his stomach, mumbling some incoherent sentence. She tried again.

"Come on Sweetie, you don't want to be late for school."

Still nothing.

_Why must you be like your father? _She thought.

Booth, just like his son, was a heavy sleeper.

Temperance shook him a little rougher. Two little eyes opened and Lukas turned to face his mother. Everything was blurry but three or four blinks took care of the situation. He smiled at his mother.

"Dad usually wakes me up." He whispered in a groggy voice.

"Not this morning." Temperance said, kissing his temple.

"I'm glad it's you Mommy." The child replied, smiling sleepily at his mother.

Temperance felt her heart beat quicker. She stood up before the tears that threatned to fall did just that.

"I'll go wake up your sister. I'll be back in two minutes."

Lukas nodded before closing his eyes shut. Temperance hoped that he wouldn't fall back asleep.

* * *

Two breakfasts, two school buses and thirty minutes later, Temperance was walking down the halls of the Medico-Legal Lab. Her cellphone rang just as she was stepping through the sliding doors.

"Booth." She stated.

"Are you the lab?" Ryan's voice asked her.

"I just got here."

"Good. Meet me in the parking lot in five minutes."

"Why?"

"We're going back to St. Sebastian's to talk to Allison."

"She's not going to talk to us."

"We'll just have to see about that."

* * *

St. Sebastian's hadn't changed since their last visit. As they waited in the waiting room once again, Temperance still thought that if she was quiet enough she would hear some kind of chanting. She listened carefully but nothing except silence reached her ears.

It didn't take as long for a teacher to bring the child and to them and, just like they had done the last time, Ryan led them into the teacher's lounge. Pulling a chair, Temperance and Ryan took a seat across from Allison. The child looked at them with neutral eyes.

"Allison, you must know why we're here?"

The child nodded.

"And you must think that you've answered all of our questions the last time we came, right?"

The little girl nodded once more.

"There's one tiny question you didn't answer and that we desperately need to know."

Allison said nothing.

"You already told us," Ryan went on, "that what you said was everything that you knew but we have reasons to believe that you know more than you told us."

Still nothing. Ryan sighed.

"You have to talk to us, Allison. We need to find out what happened to Carl and Melina."

The child nodded but said nothing.

"What are you afraid of?" Temperance asked, gently.

Allison looked down at her hands.

"Are you afraid that whoever kidnapped Carl and Melina is going to come back to hurt you?"

It was a long shot but it was worth the try. Allison said nothing but she shifted uncomfortably in her seat. Temperance looked at her partner. Bullseye.

"He's not going to hurt you." Temperance assured her.

A tears trailed down Allison's face.

"Tell you what." Ryan said, standing up and walking to the other side of the table.

He sat down on a chair beside the child's.

"What if I brought you back to my work and we can talk more privately there. You'd be safe to tell us what you know."

Allison shook her head.

"I don't want to." The child murmured through her tears.

"What if I took you?" Temperance asked.

The child looked up and the tears stopped.

* * *

Ryan wrapped up the interview with a promise to the child that they would come back for her the following day. As the three of them walked out of the room, Ryan noticed a man standing not too far from the lounge. He almost swore that he had seen a knowing look between Allison and the stranger as she walked back to her class. The man came out of the darkness.

"Agent Longström?" the man asked.

"I'm sorry. You are?"

"We met last week. I'm James Collins."

Ryan nodded.

"Right. Melina's former teacher. You know, every time we come here for a visit we always end up bumping into you. How about a little routine questioning in the teachers' lounge?"

The man agreed. Temperance followed her partner and the teacher back into the room. They took their same spot and Ryan began the questioning, noting every little thing in his black notebook.

"How long have you known Melina?"

"Since her first grade."

"And what grade was she supposed to be in right now?"

"She would have started her third one."

Ryan nodded.

"I thought you weren't investigating Melina's disappearance." Mr. Collins said, looking alternatively between Temperance and Ryan.

"We're not but it doesn't change the fact that she has disappeared and that her brother has died. We have reasons to think that Melina could have been the victim of the same crime."

"What makes you think that?"

"That's really none of your business, Mr. Collins."

The teacher nodded.

"We heard that you two were really close."

"Of course. She was like my little girl."

Ryan raised a questioning eyebrow.

"Like your little girl?"

"I don't have children, Agent Longström."

"First of all, how do you know my name? I don't think we ever formely introduced each other."

"You're Brandon's father."

Ryan nodded, knowingly. His son, of course. But how Collins had figured that out was still a mystery for the father. He'd ask his son about the teacher tonight.

"You were saying?" Ryan said, wanting to divert the conversation from his son.

"I don't have children and Melina became my little protegée. Her father isn't a good male figure and I volunteered to help on that aspect."

"How _close_ were you with her?"

"Are you implying something, Agent?"

"I'm not implying anything, Sir. I'm just asking a few formal questions, that's all."

Collins nodded, unsure.

"We were very close. The other students got jealous and started calling her a teacher's pet."

"Yet you didn't try to keep a distance."

"At school, I did. I love all of my students the same amount and I didn't want to prefer one of them over the other. At soccer practice, it was a different matter. The kids on the soccer team don't come from this school. I was a little bit more free."

"A bit more _free_?"

"I didn't have to hide that I liked her a lot."

Ryan nodded. Temperance felt sick just listening to the man.

"Did you know Carl Bradford?"

The man shook his head.

"He was supposed to be in my class this year or so I heard. I guess we won't be coming though."

"Why do you say that?"

"Well he's dead, isn't he? The Feds found him in a local park near the school? It was all over the papers."

Ryan agreed before shutting his notebook closed.

"One more thing, Mr. Collins. Where were you the night of the disappearance?"

"I was at home, watching a movie with my wife."

"Is there any way I can confirm this alibi?"

"You can call my wife. She'll tell you."

Getting up, he thanked the teacher for his time.

"No problem. My students are in phys ed right now."

Standing up, he bid them goodbye before walking out of the room. Temperance and Ryan followed soon after. They walked to the car in silence and Temperance didn't feel safe to talk until Ryan had turned the corner, away from the school.

"What did you think of Collins?" she asked her partner, knowing fully well what he was going to answer.

"I think the man has a lot in common with the children's dad. They are both attracted to little girls."

Temperance nodded, sickened at the thought of what Collins could have done to Melina when he had been more _free_. She was about to add something else when her cellphone rang. Without looking at the caller ID, she snatched it open.

"Booth."

Ryan turned to look at his partner.

"What's wrong?" he asked, concerned.

Temperance handed him her cellphone in response. Ryan put it to his ear and his heart sped up as he listened to the harsh breathing and the sobbing on the other end of the line.

* * *

**Oooh what's going on!**


	10. Confessions and Mistakes

Ryan walked urgently passed the examination tables. He knew he was attracting attention with his behavior but he couldn't care less. After three days of intensive pushing, he had finally been granted his warrant to search Collins' house. The meeting with Allison had been postponed but Ryan needed to tell his partner to fetch the little girl at her school right away.

He barged in his partner's office just as she was hanging up her phone.

"Ryan, WHAT THE HELL?" Temperance screamed as she jumped out of her skin.

But Ryan didn't have time to make a comment about it, no matter how funny her reaction had just been.

"Grab your stuff." He commanded. "You're going to St. Sebastian's to pick up Allison."

"Why? What's wrong?"

"Get this." Ryan said as he watched his partner get to her feet and grab her coat from the hanger.

It was pouring rain outside.

"Collins' alibi doesn't check out. Well, it checks out partially."

"What do you mean?" Temperance replied, adrenaline pumping in her veins as they walked hurriedly towards the parking lot.

"I talked to his wife after we left the school the other day. She agreed to meet me at her work. Get this, she's a nurse."

"So?" Temperance answered, not sure where he was going with this.

"You'll see. So I asked her about the night of the disappearance. I told her that her husband said they had been watching a movie together. Get this. She says that she doesn't remember anything between 8:30 pm to 12:00 am that night."

"What?"

Temeprance stopped dead in her tracks, in the middle of the hallway. Ryan grabbed her arm and roughly got her to start walking again.

"She says that Collins and her sat down to watch a movie around 8:15ish. She said she felt drowsy and the last thing she remembers is wondering when was the last time she had fallen asleep at 8:30. Next thing she knows, she opens her eyes, the movie has ended and it's midnight."

"Still have no clue where you're getting at, Ryan." Temperance said as Ryan opened the door for her.

"She woke up to find her husband stirring beside her. She noticed that he wasn't quite in the same position as they had been before."

"Nothing out of the ordinary there. People move in their sleep."

Ryan was exasperated. He had been sure she would have caught his drift right away.

"The wife felt groggy and disoriented and she noticed that her husband looked the same. She also noticed a small cut on her husband's forehead. She got suspicious so she went around the house to check if there hadn't been a break-in. She found nothing."

"So?"

"She felt restless for the rest of the night and she was unable to fall asleep. When she went back to work later that day, she demanded a blood test to one of her colleagues. The doc found drugs in her system."

"She was drugged? By who?"

"By her husband."

Temperance stopped walking.

"Okay, Longström, you're really not making any sense."

Ryan also stopped walking. She _never_ called him by his last name.

"Is that your gut feeling telling you Collins is the abductor?"

"I never said he was the abductor. I only said that Collins might have drugged his wife."

"But you've thought about it?"

Ryan sighed.

"Okay, maybe I did a little but I don't have time to explain it all at the moment. Listen Tempe, you need to get Allison to talk to you. Maybe if she talks, we'll know a little bit more about the disappearance of her friends. I really think this child knows more than she's telling and I'm pretty sure she knows exactly who abducted the children. "

Ryan paused for a brief second.

"_That_ is what my gut is really telling me."

Temperance nodded. There was something about Ryan's behavior that made her want to believe him.

"I don't have my car. Booth drove me to work this morning." She told her partner, remembering that she had gotten a ride that morning.

In response, Ryan chucked her his keys.

"The FBI van is picking me up here in ten minutes."

Thanking him, she walked to his car and climbed in. Seconds later, she was on her way to St. Sebastian's.

* * *

Everything was quiet in the house as the search team barged in through the door and scattered across Collins' home. Ryan examined his surroundings. A living room was on his left, through which he could access a small kitchen. In from of him stood a door most likely leading to a basement. On his right, stairs climbed to the second floor. Ryan went left. 

The living room was clustered with furniture. Ryan examined the couch. It looked fairly old and was on the verge of retirement. Everything seemed normal in the living room. He stepped into the kitchen.

This morning's breakfast was still on the table and the sink was filled with dishes. A small window opened to the backyard. Ryan looked through it. A swing hung from a tree and Ryan swore he could see a doll lying at the far end of the yard. A small door stood beside the window. He tried it but found that the door was locked... from the inside. He gave up. He didn't time to guess how to unlock the door. The presence of a doll annoyed the hell out of him but he reminded himself that it didn't mean anything.

"Collins could have nieces who visited him over the week-end." He said to himself.

Walking out of the kitchen, he immediately went upstairs where a few of his men were already going through Collins' belonging. Ryan sat down on the bed and opened the nightstand drawer. Several enveloppes were piled inside and Ryan took them out. They were all addressed to Collins. Opening one of the enveloppes, Ryan looked up to make sure no one was looking. He unfolded the paper. A two-page letter was written by hand.

_James, you need to reconsider._ The letter said. _This is really not a good idea. There has to be some other way. I'm sure that if we sit down and talk about it, we'd both see that this is ridiculous._

Ryan had had enough. He put the letter back in the enveloppe and opened another one. The other letters were all similar. The expeditor seemed to beg Collins to reconsider something. Ryan couldn't tell from the content what that thing to reconsider really was. It almost seemed like the person was writing in code.

He double-checked each letter for a signature or a date but found nothing. Sighing, he put everything back in the drawer. Getting up, he walked towards the dresser. An agent informed him that someone had already gone through the dresser but Ryan didn't care. He liked to see things for himself.

As he opened the top drawer, he wasn't sure exactly what he was looking for. His gut told him that Collins had something to do with the disappearance of the Bradford children. He rummaged for a few moments before having to admit that the agent had been right. There was nothing else in this dresser other than clean underwears, socks and other clothing.

An hour of searching came out fruitless. Nothing had been found linking Melina or her brother to this house. Ryan walked out empty handed.

* * *

Back at the Jeffersonian, Temperance and Allison sat quietly in the doctor's office. Allison was seated on the couch, her legs dangling from it, while Temperance sat at her desk. 

"Why am I here?" Allison asked.

Temperance looked up at the child.

"There's something I wanted to show you."

"Really? What?"

"Just give me a second."

The child nodded and continued looking around the weird woman's office. Because Allison had settled to qualifying Temperane as weird. As much as she wanted to hate her, just like every other cop who had talked to her, she just couldn't hate _her. _There was just something about _her_.

Temperance logged into her account and surfed the web site for what she was looking for. A roll of her mouse brought her to the photo album link. She clicked on it and waited. She glanced at Allison who was still sitting obidiently on the couch. She smiled.

She looked back at her screen and clicked on the photo album she wanted. She told Allison to come closer and the child got up. Temperance got up to leave the seat to the little girl and pulled another one.

"Who's that?" Allison asked.

"That's me with my mom when I was 8 years old."

"She's pretty."

"Yeah she really was." Temperance replied with a sigh. "Allison, do you know why I'm showing you this?"

Allison shook her head no.

"You see, when I was fifteen years old, my parents disappeared and nobody knew what had happened to them. About seven years ago, we found my mother's body."

"What happened to her?"

"It's not important. What _is_ important though is that I finally got the answers I was looking for for years. To get them, I had to talk to a whole lot of people. My partner at the time questionned a lot of people who knew my parents and it was by asking questions that we were finally able to figure out what happened to my mother."

Allison nodded.

"Your best friend disappeared and I know it has affected you because it's happened to me. I know how it feels to lose someone you deeply care about. I didn't know where my mother had gone when she left. You know. You know where your best friend went. You don't have to be afraid to tell me because if you do, we'll be able to arrest whoever did this and he'll go to jail. He's not going to harm you."

Allison looked back at the picture on the screen. The doctor seemed so happy with her mother and she wondered if Temperance ever missed her mother.

"Do you miss your mom?"

"All the time." Temperance answered, truthfully.

"I miss Melina." Allison said, looking down at her hands.

Her tone was sad and Temperance felt herself tear up. She put her hand on the little girl's.

"That's why you need to tell me what happened to her and Carl."

Allison locked eyes with the woman sitting in front of her and told her everything that she knew.

* * *

"Amazing!" Ryan simply said as he sat down on the couch beside his partner. "You actually got her to talk?" 

"Yes, Ryan. Now would you calm down?" Temperance replied, laughing softly.

"Calm down? But Tempe, this is huge. I mean we tried like three times to get her to talk and it didn't work. What did she tell you?"

A large smile spread over her face.

"She just told me what _exactly_ happened that night."

"Which is?"

"Well the beginning was the same. Melina's mother tucked them in, they later sneaked downstairs for candy, they ate some and fell asleep. Allison woke up to the sound of flames, it was really hot in the room. That's where she changed her story."

Temperance stopped which only resulted in making Ryan less patient.

"Will you just tell me what she said?"

Temperance chuckled.

"She saw someone walk in the room. She couldn't make out who it was but she figured that it was probably a fire fighter. The man stopped dead in his tracks when he saw her. But then he walked deeper into the room, grabbed Melina and he was about to leave when he came back in his tracks and grabbed Carl as well. Before leaving the room, he told the girl to be patient, that another one of his colleague would come get her in a few seconds. Just like the man said, a minute or two later, another fire fighter came in, picked her up and carried her outside. You know the rest."

"That's it! It's officially a kidnapping. A fire fighter comes in, grabs two children and leaves the house. The children are never brought home to their parents, only the third child. It's a kidnapping."

Temperance nodded.

"If we could only found out who did. Allison didn't recognize the man at all?"

"Why do you say that?"

"Well most kidnappings are done by people known to the family. Allison might have known him."

"But Allison isn't family."

Ryan didn't say anything.

"You still think Collins is the abductor?"

"Well who else could it be? Besides we know he has a thing for little girls. Maybe he also has a thing for little boys. We don't know much about him."

"Did you check out his file?"

"He was charged for sexual assault on a teenage girl when he was 15 but because he was a minor back then, his whole history has been erased."

Temperance nodded.

"Still doesn't mean it's him."

"I know."

They sat in silence for a while until Ryan asked the question he had been dying to ask her since he found out Allison had talked.

"How did you get her to confess?"

"I told her about my parents."

"Oh..."

"Yeah. It seemed to be the only way. But hey it worked!"

Temperance sounded falsely cheerful.

"What did she say?"

"She asked me if I missed my mother."

"What did you tell her?"

"I told her I missed her all the time."

"Which you do."

"Which I do."

"Is that why you became a forensic anthropologist?"

"Pretty much. I guess that I thought because I couldn't get the answers to my questions, I could at least give other people the answers to theirs."

Ryan nodded knowingly. He hadn't known that his partner had suffered so much in her life. He had known about her parents before but they had never truly talked about it. It was still a taboo subject for her and he respected that.

"That's a very sweet gesture. I didn't know you could be such a softie."

"That's because you don't know me well enough. Why did _you_ become a cop? Same reason as everybody else?"

Ryan shrugged.

"I guess. My dad was a police officer, my grandfather was a police officer and so was my uncle. I was the only boy in my family so everybody expected me to become one. It took a couple of years but I decided to join the police. I got recruted for the FBI shortly after I got my badge."

"Nice."

"Yeah I guess it's pretty nice. I got to meet you."

"Ryan..." Temperance warned.

She had a feeling where this conversation was going to go and she wasn't up for it. She had been able to tell him but she barely even had a chance to register what was happening before she felt lips pressed against hers. She felt her mind go blank and was unable to move for a few seconds. Her eyes involuntarily shut which made her miss the angry look on Booth's face as he caught sight of his wife kissing the partner she claimed she didn't have feelings for.

* * *

**A/N: Okay guys, don't hate me just yet.**


	11. Of Jealousy, Threats and Private Numbers

**A/N: Ready for a bit of drama? I wanted to make you guys wait a bit longer than that but I changed my mind.

* * *

**

Booth was pacing back and forth in the kitchen when he heard the car door slam shut outside. He knew that Temperance had arrived. Turning to his kids, he quickly ushered them out of the kitchen.

"Go play outside. We'll call you when dinner is ready."

Lukas, sensing something was not right, quickly grabbed his little sister by the hand. He had known, from the moment his dad had picked him up after school without his mother, that something was wrong. He knew that they were going to fight and he knew how much Riley despised their arguments. He grabbed his shoes and his sister's sandals before stepping out onto the deck and leading his sister as far away from the house as possible. The windows were open, they would hear them argue.

Booth stood at the sink, staring at his kids from the window above it. He knew that Lukas had sensed that something had been wrong with him and that he was doing his best to keep his sister occupied. Watching his son, he wondered where he had learned to be so intuitive. Temperance thought it came from him but he already doubted it. He had his mother's intelligence, there was no doubt about it. If Lukas had gotten something from him, it was his strength. Emotionnally, Lukas was the strongest child he had ever met. Unlike Riley who was more fragile. While Lukas simply locked himself in his room or in the basement when arguments between him and his wife occured, Riley threw fits. Their arguments had often been stopped by Riley's tears, in fact.

Booth was happy that his daughter was playing outside, away from their house. Their arguments weren't usually so bad but tonight, things were different. Tonight, Booth had a feeling it was going to be explosive.

The front door opened and Temperance stepped inside. Announcing her presence, she was surprised to have no response. Normally, a little brown head and another blonde one would have come running from some place in the house and jumping into their mother's arms but not tonight. Temperance wondered why as she walked in the kitchen, puzzled.

"Where are the kids?" she asked, cheerfully.

"Outside."

His ton had been cold and Temperance picked it up immediately.

"What's wrong with you?" she asked, accusingly as she grabbed a glass in the cupboard.

She didn't know why but she was really thirsty. Opening the fridge door, she grabbed orange juice and poured some in her glass before putting back in the fridge. She walked to the patio door and spotted her children outside in the yard. She looked at the time. Shouldn't they have been at the table eating dinner right now? It was past six.

"Who drove you home? You had no car." Booth asked, ignoring her previous question.

"Ryan did."

_And it was the least he could do after kissing me._ She added in her mind.

"Of course. Ryan."

She looked suspiciously at her husband.

"What's gotten into you?"

Booth ignored her question once again.

"Is he a good kisser?" he asked.

Temperance, who had turned her gaze back to her children after asking her question, turned her attention to her husband, her heart beating rapidly in her chest. Had she heard right? Was she only being paranoid because she was wrecked by guilt over what had happened in her office? But she had no reason to feel guilty. She hadn't initiated the kiss, Ryan had, and she had pushed him away the second her brain had started functionning again, whick had taken about ten seconds.

"What did you say?"

She knew fully well what he had said but she was stalling for time. She had tried to keep her voice stable but it had quivered. She cursed herself for being so weak.

"I asked you if he was a good kisser." Booth replied, in a tone that meant "you know perfectly what I had asked you".

Temperance gulped but said nothing.

Booth sighed and turned to face her. His eyes showed deep hurt as they burned into her soul and Temperance was unable to look in them. She avoided his eyes. He had seen them. But when? She hadn't seen him. Was it possible that he had left before she had pushed Ryan away? If so, he must have been thinking that her and Ryan had a make-out session. She began to feel even more guilty. This has to be straightened out immediately.

She had been about to reply when Booth cut her off. His tone was cold and sent shivers down her spine. He was more hurt than she had thought.

"You know Bones, if you wanted a divorce, you should have just mentionned it. You didn't have to run off kissing other guys."

Temperance was shocked. Divorce?

"Booth, I..."

"Especially Ryan." Booth added, ignoring her. "Any other guy wouldn't have bothered me that much but Ryan? The guy's a jerk."

Temperance felt anger boil in her blood.

"He's not a jerk, Booth." She replied, disapprovingly.

She wasn't quite sure why she had felt the need to defend him. He didn't really deserve it.

"Of course you're going to defend him." Booth spat. "He's your lover."

She couldn't believe Booth was saying stuff like that.

"He is _not_ my lover! You are!"

He laughed sarcastically.

"Yeah right."

Temperance rolled her eyes.

"You know what? You need help!"

Booth's face turned red.

"_I_ need help! Seriously. You think I need help? You're the one who's the workaholic in this family, not me.You're the one who started all of this."

"I _started_ all of this?"

She was now fuming. How dare he accuse her?

"Yes! You started all of this. You're the one who started spending more time with your partner than with your own family!"

"You just said it yourself. Ryan is my partner! We work on cases together. Of course I'm going to spend time with him!"

She couldn't believe they were having this conversation again. It had been a while since they had and she had actually thought that Booth had worked out this issue on his own and that he would leave her relationship with Ryan alone. She knew today that she had foolish to think so.

"We used to be partners and we never spent _that_ much time together!"

It was Temperance's turn to laugh sarcastically.

"Is your memory failing you, Seeley? I remember spending much more time than that with you. I even remember you bringing chinese food at my place at 1:00 am in the morning. You've never seen Ryan do _that_!"

"It's always about Ryan, isn't it? Is there even a sentence that doesn't contain his name?"

"Booth, you're being completely ridiculous."

"Shouldn't have kissed him then."

This time she had had enough. Slamming her hands on the counter, she looked up at her husband straight in the eyes. He didn't blink and neither did she.

"That's ENOUGH! Do you want to know what I did after Ryan kissed me? I pushed him away and I kicked him out of my office! That's what I did! If you wouldn't have left and actually given me the time to react, you would have seen that! But no! You went all nuts like you do and you just left! Next time, Booth, before you throw a jealousy fit, double-check your information!"

For a second or two, Booth looked stunned and Temperance felt victorious. He only stared, not quite knowing what to say or what to believe. Sure, it would be easy for her to say that she had pushed Ryan away since he hadn't stayed long enough to see if she had actually did. Then again, maybe it had in fact happened. Not quite knowing what to say, he rubbed the back of his neck. This was too screwed up.

He snapped back to reality to find Temperance pacing back and forth in front of him. He had never seen her so angry.

"I'm just so sick and tired of the jealousy, Booth." She went on, her voice cold like his had been previously. "Every time there's a new man in my life, you get jealous and immediately start assuming the worst. The only partner that you liked was Elena and that was because she was a woman. You're jealous of Ryan just like you were jealous of David, of Micheal and other men that have been around me shortly after we got married. Booth, you were even jealous of _Russ_ and he is my _brother_. You actually thought that I spent too much time with him and that it was distracting me from my work."

Booth looked uncomfortable.

"Well... it did."

"Don't say anything!" Temperance immediately cut him off. "You _have_ to stop talking and just listen once in a while. Booth, this jealousy thing, it's really turning into a real problem. You need help."

"Here we go again with the help thing." Booth said, rolling his eyes, but with less conviction than before. "You know what? I don't _need_ help. If you could just stop flirting with every single guy you met, maybe I wouldn't be so jealous."

"See? You turn this around to me again! It's never about you, Booth! It's always about me! I was the one who tricked you into sleeping with me the first time! It was the one who made sure I forgot to tell you that I hadn't taken all of my pills that month! It was _my_ fault that I got pregnant! And _now_ it's my fault because I 'flirt' with other guys. I just can't believe you!"

"So you're saying that all of that was my fault? I don't recall ever forgetting to take _my_ birth control pills!"

"Will you just let it go? It happened like six years ago." Temperance sighed, crossing her arms in front of her chest.

"I did let it go, Bones. You're the one who brought it up."

Temperance raised a hand to her forehead. All of this was giving her a headache.

"I can't take this anymore."

"What?"

Booth watched as her eyes and her entire expression turned serious.

"First thing tomorrow morning, we're calling a divorce lawyer."

The words hit Booth in the chest like a plunging knife. He tried his best not to retort that it was a good idea. The situation was bad enough already, he didn't need to make it worst. Grabbing his keys from the counter, he quickly walked out of the kitchen and into the hallway. He fetched his running shoes from the closet before roughly opening the door and shutting it violently behind him.

In the kitchen, Temperance closed her eyes as she felt the whole house tremble from the slamming of the door. Tears were threatning to fall but she forced them in when she heard the patio door to the kitchen open.

"Mommy, I'm hungry." Riley whined, peeking her head through the door.

Temperance gathered herself up and smiled weakly at her daughter.

"Mommy is going to make soup and sandwiches. We'll eat in about fifteen minutes."

"YAY!" Riley cried out, running back to her brother, oblivious to the scene that had taken place in her very own kitchen.

* * *

Booth parked the SUV in front of Ryan's apartment building. Temperance wanted to divorce and it was because of the man who lived on the third floor of this particular building. He was the reason. If he hadn't waltzed in Temperance's life like he had, they wouldn't have been in this mess. His wife would have still been loving, she would have never kissed another man and they wouldn't have been on the verge of divorcing. A small voice in his head added that it was partially his fault, that he probably helped pushing her to making a rash decision. Booth told it to shut up. 

He climbed the stairs to the third floor, walked down the corridor and knocked at his colleague's door.

He heard the footsteps coming from inside the apartment. He wasn't quite sure anymore what he was doing there but the louder the footsteps became, the more he believed what he was about to do was the right thing. This man needed to be straightened out.

Ryan opened the door to a very angry-looking Booth.

"Agent Booth? What-"

But Ryan never got to finish his sentence before being shoved by Booth further into his apartment.

"You think you can just go off kissing another man's wife?"

His tone was sharp and harsh. Ryan was speechless.

"Booth, what are you...?"

Booth pushed him once again, making Ryan collide with the back of his couch.

"Temperance is my _wife_. She loves me, not you! Now just leave her the fuck alone!"

"I'm sorry I kissed her, Booth." Ryan said, bringing up his hands in a protective manner. "If it helps, she pushed me away and asked me never to do that again."

"Yeah." Booth said, nodding sharply. "And you better listen to her."

"Or else what?" Ryan asked, sarcastically.

Booth's eyes turned darker in anger as he grabbed Ryan by the collar and pressed him against the wall. Ryan gulped. He had never seen him like that. In his eyes flowed madness and an irrational sparkle illuminated them. He had never thought Booth to be so crazy.

"If you don't, I will personally make sure that you don't see the following day. Do I make myself clear?"

Ryan forced himself to stay calm, to remind himself that Booth had the right to be pissed at him, but he couldn't help the beads of sweat falling from his forehead. This man was definetely crazy.

"Is that a threat?" Ryan asked, trying hard to keep his voice steady.

"You better believe it is." Booth said through clenched teeth just before releasing Ryan's collar from his grip.

Booth turned around and was about to walk out the door when he stopped. He looked once more at Ryan, who was still standing against the wall, dumbfounded.

"Don't forget." Booth said, pointing a finger at him. "One more move on her and you'll regret the day you were born."

On that, he left the apartment. And as he drove around Washington trying to call himself down, Booth came to terms that maybe, he did in fact need help.

* * *

Temperance had just finished tucking in Lukas and assuring him that his father would came back home later that night when she heard her cellphone ringing in the kitchen. Jogging downstairs and into the kitchen, she immediately grabbed it and checked out her caller ID. _Private number._

Her heart raced in her chest as she flipped her phone open and slowly put it to her ear.

"Booth." She stated, a twinge of hurt pricking at her heart at the thought that this might have been the last time she would ever call herself that.

Her thoughts were immediately thrown back to reality when the voice reached her ears.

"Please..." The voice pleaded. "Please, help me."

Temperance took a few seconds before answering.

"Melina?"

She heard a _click_ that told her the caller had hung up.

The sound of the door startled her and she turned around quickly. She recognized the silhouette of her husband. She hadn't expected him to come back so early. At the moment, though, she couldn't have cared less.

Booth walked in the kitchen, oblivious to the look on his wife's face.

"I'll consider therapy." He simply said.

But noticing now the weird expression on her face, he added:

"Are you okay?"

Temperance nodded, numbly.

"Melina just called."

* * *

**A/N: Wow! That HAD to be the most dramatic chapter I have ever written in my entire life. And again, don't hate me just yet!**


	12. Anonymous

**A/N: Wow! I update quickly! I haven't updated this quick since Turning Back Time. Anyway hope you enjoy this chapter. It's a bit short, sorry, but there wasn't else I could write.**

* * *

Ryan smoothed his shirt where Booth had viciously grabbed him, wondering what _exactly_ had possessed his colleague to act that way. He had known the man for a few years but he had never portrayed him as someone so violent. Ryan knew he ought to denonciate him to his boss, he also knew that he had asked for it and that Booth had had a reason to have acted the way he had. After, he _had_ kissed his wife. Booth had every reason to be pissed off about that, especially if he had seen them. Ryan thought back to the kiss and couldn't help feeling hurt that his partner had pushed him away. She had only told him to take his stuff and get the hell out of her office. Ryan wondered if, on some level, she had actually liked it.

Looking at the clock, he realized that it was too early to go to bed even though he was really tired. He settled for watching TV in bed. Passing the light switch on his way, he turned off the lights in the living room and slowly made his way to his bedroom.

He flipped through all of the channels, finding nothing suiting his mood. None of the movies looked interesting and he wasn't in the mood to watch the lastest sitcom starting on TV that he had sworn he would watch.

He turned off the TV, five minutes later, and grabbed the book off his nightstand. Maybe reading would help pass the time. But after ten pages, he closed it and placed it back in its original spot.

He laid down on his back and stared at the ceiling. The apartment was so quiet when Christina and Brandon weren't around. His children had spent the entire month of July with him but he hadn't seen them ever since. His ex-wife had taken them to see their grandparents in Florida in August and she hadn't heard from her since school had started. He hadn't even spotted his son at St. Sebastian's when they had gone to visit. Ryan frowned. Had his ex-wife taken Brandon out of private school and sent him to a public school instead? He hardly doubt it but then again, with Isabel, you never knew. He'd call her in the morning. Today, he was in no mood for an argument.

Silence filled his ears as he listened to the ticking of the clock in his bedroom. The sound was captivating and he soon found himself feeling drowsy. A few tic-tocs later, his eyes were closing and he was sinking in a deep slumber.

The sound of his phone acted like a bolt of lightning hitting him as he sat up abruptly in bed. He looked at the time. Ten-thirty. Who could be calling him? Isabel? Brandon? Tempe?

He slipped out of his bed, rubbing the sleep from off his face. One look at the caller ID told him everything he needed to know. _Unknown caller._ He picked the phone.

"Hello?"

There was a few seconds of silence during which Ryan considered hanging up. But then a voice was heard.

"Agent Longström?"

It was a woman.

"Yes." Ryan replied, unsure.

"I was told I could remain anonymous."

_Who told you that?_ He thought.

"Yes you can."

"I called the number right away but they told me you had already left."

Ryan was glad the woman could not see his expression. She would have seen that he thought she was crazy.

"Who told you that?"

"I heard you were the agent assigned to the Bradford case."

His attention was immediately grabbed. Who was this woman?

"The little girl..." The woman started. "I saw her in a store today."

Ryan's eyes grew wide in surprise. This woman _had_ to be kidding. Melina wasn't alive. Or was she?

"Where? What store?"

The only response he got was the _click_ that announced the disconnection.

* * *

Glares followed him all the way to Temperance's office but he couldn't care less. He needed to talk to his partner's about the previous night's call and get her opinion on what they should do. After all, it was _their_ case and he wanted her opinion on the matter.

He was surprised to find her office empty. He glanced at his watch. _Eight-thirty._ She should have been here.

An enquiry to Dr. Goodman told him that Temperance was in autopsy room #2 analyzing remains the local police had brought in. Thanking the archeologist, Ryan jogged down the corridor leading to the autopsy rooms.

Just as the doctor had said, Temperance was hunched over a skeleton who Ryan thought looked hundred years old. He knocked softly on the window. Temperance looked up, an annoyed expression on her face. Ryan smiled weakly and motionned the door. Temperance told him to come in.

"Who are you working on?" he asked after closing the door behind him.

"I'm not sure yet. My first guess would be male, around mid-forties, but I still have a lot of analysis to do."

"Do you have time to talk?"

"About what?" Temperance replied, looking back down at the skeleton on her table. "How you kissed me yesterday? How my husband saw us? Or maybe you would want to talk about the fact that he actually called a divorce lawyer this morning?"

"You two are getting a divorce?"

The thought of it made him feel guilty. Of course he wanted his partner but he wasn't heartless. Ryan was more a man who wanted what he couldn't have. Temperance offered exactly just that.

"I guess so." She replied, shrugging, and omitting to tell him that she had had the idea in the first place.

"I'm sorry."

"Just don't do anything like that again."

Ryan nodded. He thought it was a fair deal.

"You wanted to talk?" Temperance asked, glancing briefly at his partner.

It was all back to business.

"Actually, I did. You see, I got a call last night from a woman who claimed to have seen Melina in a store yesterday. She didn't tell me which store or what her name was and God knows how she got my home phone number."

"Probably the same way Melina got my cellphone number."

Ryan frowned.

"What are you talking about?" he asked, confused.

Temperance turned to her partner, her face more serious than ever.

"Melina called me last night, around eight-thirty. I'm pretty sure she was crying. Either that or she was frightened to death. She begged me to help her but when I said her name, she hung up."

She could see that her partner was getting excited and she had to fight her urges to do the same thing. If Melina was alive, it would be a major breakthrough in the case and they would at least be able to bring back one of the children back to the Bradford's.

"Do you know why she hung up? Was there noises in the background?"

Temperance shook her head. She hadn't heard anything else besides Melina's voice. She told her partner so. This only seemed to confuse him even more.

"So? What are we going to do about this? We certainly can't talk to Allison again. She already told you everything she knew."

Temperance agreed.

"Talk to the dad again maybe? We haven't gotten his side of the story yet."

Ryan shook his head.

"He's still not back from his trip from out of town."

"Maybe you should go to him."

"Maybe I should."

"Do you know where he took off?"

"To see his father."

"I know _that._ I meant, do you know where his father lives?"

"South Carolina, I think."

Temperance nodded.

"Then what are you waiting for?"

The hallways were quiet as the little girl made her way to the bathroom. Her shoes made squeaking noise on the more-than-cleaned floors. She knew her teacher was angry with her. She hated it when a student disrupted her class to go to the bathroom. But she needed to get out of the class. The bathroom seemed like the best idea.

She pushed the door to the girl's bathroom and found it empty. She stood at the door, not knowing what else to do. She made her way to the sink. Turning the handles, warm water poured down the faucet and onto her hands. She could wash her hands. That would save her some time. She needed to find a way to get out of the school. She knew he was here and she knew that he knew. She was scared. More than scared, actually. She was traumatized.

The water drowned the soft noise of the door creaking open. She was too short to see in the mirror but she heard the steps. She turned around. He was there.

"I told you not to say anything."

His tone was aggressive and she backed up against the sink.

"I didn't."

She was lying. Of course she had talked. The weird lady had made her talk.

"Yes you did!"

The hand grabbing her was strong. She watched as the other hand disappeared into his pocket to come out a few seconds later. The sun reverbrated off the blade and she squinted. And as the knife plunged for the first time in her stomach, her heart wretching screams echoed off the walls of St. Sebastian's.

* * *

**See you in the next chappie:-) Don't forget to review!**


	13. The Body

**A/N: Sorry I took such a long time to update but here it is. Thank you for the reviews, I really enjoyed reading them. And for those who are also waiting for the update for "The Date", it's coming soon. I'm going through a small writer's block and can't seem to be able to write the Movie chapter (I actually have the rest of the story figured out, there will be two more chapters after the movie one... if only I could write the movie one lol). I promise that the story will be updated this week. Enough talking for now. Enjoy Chapter 12!**

* * *

He had stayed much longer than he should have had. Almost an hour had gone by before Ryan stepped out of the examination room. His cellphone rang as soon as the door had shut behind him. Stopping in his tracks, he snatched the phone from his pocket and answered it. His brain took two seconds to register what the caller told him before he snapped his phone shut. Rubbing his chin, he looked over at his partner, who had resumed her examination of the body. She must have felt his gaze for she looked up. Ryan walked back in. 

"How much time do you have before you need to hand in your results?" he asked, pointing at the skeleton.

"I don't know. Why?" Temperance simply replied.

"We're needed at St. Sebastian's."

* * *

Police tape surrounded the school and curious bystanders had gathered around it for the second time in two weeks. Temperance and Ryan made their way through the thick crowd, Ryan listening intently at what the police officer was telling him. 

"The victim was found in the girl's bathroom around 9:30 by another schoolgirl. Apparently, the child had asked permission to use the bathroom around nine o'clock but failed to come back. Worried, the teacher sent someone to check up on her. That's when they found her. We called you immediately after we found out who it was."

"Where is the child?"

The officer pointed to an ambulance at the back of the parking lot. A little girl sat at the back, legs hanging out, an oxygen mask on her face. Temperance shivered. Poor child. Scarred for life. They continued on their way.

The officer led them down the now well-known corridor leading to the girl's bathroom, at the opposite end of the school. As they got closer, the crowd of teachers and police officers became thicker. More yellow tape was glued to the walls, preventing entry to anybody other than the police. Ryan flashed his badge at the officer standing on the other side of the tape. The man pointed to Temperance.

"She's my partner." Ryan replied before lifting the tape.

Temperance ducked under, quickly followed by Ryan himself. Peeking over her partner's shoulder, she immediately saw the puddle of blood on the floor. Temperance felt her stomach contract. She was already feeling nauseous.

The feeling only grew stronger at the sight of the body. Allison still hadn't been moved and laid in the same position she had landed. She seemed to be floating in her own blood. An office was taking pictures of her in different angles. Temperance looked up at the wall. There was some blood, but not much.

She closed her eyes and tried breathing through her nose in hopes of steadying her stomach. She felt the nausea climb up her throat but she swallowed it down, the acid burning her. This was exactly why she had become a forensic anthropologist. Skeletons didn't have real faces. Corpses did. This one did. The skeletons, she had never known them. This corpse she had known. It had belonged to a very beautiful, intellingent and sweet girl. Tears pricked at her eyes. She turned to Ryan. He had a grave expression on his face. She saw that his jaw was clenched tight. He obviously wasn't untouched by what they were staring at.

"She was discovered like this?" Ryan asked in a voice that he had wanted steady.

"Yes." The officer replied. "Just like that."

"Wounds?"

"Stabbed three times in the stomach and the poor thing hit her head on the sink as she fell to the ground."

A small spot of blood decorated the edge of the sink. Temperance felt the nausea climb back up. Excusing herself, she rushed out of the bathroom. In the bathroom, Ryan continued his questioning.

"Nobody heard anything?"

"A teacher thought he had heard someone scream out in pain but he figured that it might have only been a child in the park across the street. He didn't pay too much attention to it."

A weird feeling having nothing to do with nausea crept up in the agent.

"Which teacher?" he asked, curious.

The officer checked his notes.

"A certain Mr. James Collins."

Ryan nodded. That was exactly what he had thought.

"Where is Mr. Collins at the moment?"

"Outside, with two of my colleagues."

Without another word, Ryan walked out of the bathroom.

He saw him way before Collins did. The man was sitting on the floor, head in his hands. Two officers stood at his feet, looking down at him. Ryan crept up to them.

"May I speak to this man alone please?"

The two officers jumped, startled. One of them nodded and they both walked away together, murmuring opinions on the man sitting on the floor. Ryan ignored them.

"So we meet again." Ryan told the man.

Collins looked up, a defiant look in his eyes.

"What are you implying?" Collins asked, suspiciously.

"Again I'm not implying anything Mr. Collins. Have you ever heard of paranoia because I think you suffer from it?"

Collins shook his head.

"What do you want?"

His tone was sharp. Ryan was surprised.

"I just need to ask you a few routine questions."

"Again? Wasn't raiding my house and questioning me in the teachers' lounge enough for you?"

Ryan ignored his comment.

"Where were you when the killing occured?"

Collins rolled his eyes.

"So what? Now I'm a murderer?"

"That's for me to judge. Now, answer my question."

It was Ryan's turn to be harsh but the agent couldn't care less. Two children were now dead. He didn't have time to be polite.

"I was in my office, working on tomorrow's lesson plan."

"You weren't with your students?"

"They were in art class. I was alone in my office. So yes, I have no alibi."

"And did you know Allison Martin?"

"She was Melina's best friend. Of course I knew her."

The strange sensation reappeared at the back of Ryan's mind. He knew that the search had come to nothing, that nothing had been found to link Collins to the Bradford children case but a nagging thought picked at his mind. He couldn't pinpoint exactly what it was but something told him that Collins had something to do with it. Ryan pointed a finger at him.

"You better not leave this city." He told Collins. "Not until this case is solved anyway."

On that, he walked back to the bathroom.

Collins, on his side, looked down at his sleeve. Ryan hadn't seen the red stain.

* * *

The elevator doors opened and Temperance quickly stepped out. She wasn't sure what she was doing there or what exactly she was going to do, but it felt like the right place to be at. 

Her entire body felt numb. Images of Allison's body on the bathroom floor flashed before her eyes every now and then, startling her and sending shivers up and down her spine. She forced back her tears as she made her way between the desks, not wanting people to see what the chilling discover had done to her. However, she did attract attention but she ignored the stares. She couldn't wait until she reached her destination.

She knocked so softly on the door that she was almost certain that he hadn't heard her. She had been about to knock a second time when he looked up.

"Temperance?" he asked, surprised to see her standing in the doorway.

The tears that she had been holding back suddenly came pouring down. She wiped them away.

"Temperance, what's wrong?"

Surprise turned to worry. She heard the concern in his voice. If only he knew. She tried to talk, to explain to him to what had happened but the words stuck in her throat.

Booth stared at his wife for a second, completely shocked, before realizing the gravity of the situation. Temperance was standing in his office, bawling her eyes out. In two strides he was up to her and pulling her in his arms. Temperance collapsed against him. With his left hand, he closed the door to give them more privacy.

He rubbed her back gently, not quite sure what to say. He had no idea why she was here, in his arms, crying. He hugged her closer. It felt like ages since he had been able to hold her like this. As much as he hated seeing her hurting like that, he had missed it. He had missed holding her like he was doing, comforting her and being the pillar of strength in their relationship. For the first time since their marriage had taken a toll for the worst, he felt needed.

Temperance eventually calmed down enough for her to explain to her husband what had happened. Booth simply listened to her, knowing that's what she needed. He listened as she described the horrific scene. He listened as she told him that seeing Allison on the floor made her think of Riley and how it could have been her. The tears immediately starting falling once again and Booth pulled her once again in his arms. Her whole body shook as she sobbed. His heart ached and a lump formed in his throat. He hugged her closer.

"I'm sorry." He heard her whisper in between sobs.

"Don't worry about it."

He rubbed her back softly.

"When's our appointment?"

Booth frowned. Appointment?

"What appointment?" he asked.

Temperance pulled away, keeping her arms wrapped around his neck.

"With the lawyer. When's our appointment?"

Booth glanced quickly sideways.

"I didn't call."

"What?"

Temperance could feel her heart racing in her chest. Tears of joy mixed with the ones of pain. He hadn't called?

"I didn't call and I'm not planning to either."

He watched as a small smile appeared on her face. She laughed through her tears. Booth wiped them awaywith his thumb.

* * *

**Please review! Don't make me beg! ;-)**


	14. Asheville, North Carolina

**A/N: A few things before you start reading. First of all, this chapter hasn't been proofread so there are any mistakes I am very sorry but I really wanted to post this chapter soon since you all have been waiting for so long.**

**Second of all, I'd like to thank my reviewer Ally for pointing out my mistakes in the "date time" chapter. You want to know the worst part, Ally: I knew all of that before. I knew washing machine was for clothing and dishwasher for dishes. I don't know why I switched them in the chapter. lol**

**With that being said, enjoy this chapter!**

* * *

Allison's body had quickly become a new motivation for Ryan to finish up on the case as quickly as he could before another child, or witness, was murdered. He had worked all night and part of the morning following the young child's death finding out where Mr. Bradford was currently living. He had learned from his wife that he hadn't still come home from his visit to his sick father and this tickled Ryan's attention.

After much research, he finally found the address of the hospital where the sick man was currently being treated at for a brain tumor, the room number and the name of the visitors that had come in his room for the past three weeks. The name Paul Bradford was mentionned often. So far, his alibi checked out. Ryan would now see about his story.

He wasn't quite sure what made him believe that Bradford knew more about his children's disappearance than he had told him and Temperance about but he just did. He wasn't sure why he hadn't mentionned to his partner that he was driving down to North Carolina to meet the man and question. Something simply told him that it would be best if he went alone.

The drive would be long. He estimated it to be a little bit more than eight hours, including rest stops and lunch. Ryan looked down at the clock as he drove into Virginia: 5:30 am.

The Interstate was nearly empty and Ryan couldn't be happier about it. He wouldn't have to worry about others cars as he thought about the case he had been working on for over two weeks. Just like he always did, he had recapped everything that he knew.

Two children had disappeared during what had been evaluated as a accidental housefire, due to bad wiring. One of these children had turned up dead in a park, probably beaten to death or at least tortured. The child had been identified as six-year-old Carl Bradford which had meant that Melina Bradford, the oldest of the two, was still hidden somewhere.

The 'alive' victim's best friend had been murdered at her school, probably due to the fact that she had witnessed a little bit than she should've had. They had no real suspects in sight, unless he counted that Collins guy who always seemed to be popping up from nowhere every time he was at St. Sebastian's. The man appeared normal but there had been something in his tone the last time he had seen him that told Ryan maybe not everything was right with him.

Collins' wife had been drugged and had lost three hours of her evening with her husband. Collins had claimed to his wife about being drugged too and Ryan immediately cursed himself. He hadn't completely forgotten to ask Collins about the drugging. He hit the streering wheel, swearing.

They had met the victims' parents, the father had assaulted him and had been taken into custody. According to the mother, Laura, her husband had been passed out drunk on the couch the night of the fire. But something bugged Ryan about this piece of information: passed out drunk meant that Paul shouldn't have woken up to the sound of the alarm and Laura had never told Ryan how the man had gotten out of the house. The only rescues were those of the children, if he took in consideration what the fire fighters had told him. This was something he would need to clarify with Bradford.

Then there was the fire fighter suit theft that made Ryan believe that it was linked to the disappearance. He wasn't sure why exactly or more importantly how it was linked. If the fire had been in fact accidental, then how could the robber had learned of it, grabbed his suit and had gone over to the house and kidnapped two children? This part didn't make any sense to him and Ryan came to the conclusion that maybe it was all just a big coincidence.

Then there were those weird anonymous calls made to Temperance's cellphone and the phone made to his house. His anonymous tipster had told him that she had seen Melina in a store but had not given much more information. This was exactly the reason why Ryan couldn't do much with. No name for the store had been given, no area, no nothing. The caller had sounded nervous or even scared but that didn't help much. Ryan had asked for the call to be trace but unfortunately, a payphone had been used.

Temperance's calls had been different. Nobody would be speaking and the only sound that she had heard had sounded like something breathing heavily. The last call had been made three or four days ago and the caller had begged Temperance to help her. His partner had spoken Melina's name and the caller had hung up. Coincidence or just a trick played on her? The FBI didn't deal with cellphone services so there could be no tracing of the calls.

So this all left him with a mystery that he wasn't quite sure how to solve. Everything seemed so screwed up yet seemed to fit together. There was still the murderer to be found, the kidnapper (if they weren't the same person) and Melina. Ryan felt like time was running out and that if he didn't do something soon, Melina would suffer the same fate as her brother.

Ryan looked once again at the time: 6:00 am. He gulped. Yes, time was really running out for him.

* * *

It was a bit past 1:00 pm when Ryan parked his car in the hospital's parking lot, after flashing his badge to at least three security guards. He quickly made his way to the reception and asked if Mr. Bradford was still present. The receptionnist asked him who he might be and Ryan sighed as he once again took his badge from his pocket and showed it to the young lady. She nodded briefly before giving him the number of the hospital. Not that he truly needed it anyway.

Cancer ward, fifth floor. The elevator had been stuck for the past two days so Ryan had to use the stairs. As he climbed the third flight of stairs, he hoped that nobody had been in the elevators when it got stuck. On the fourth flight of stairs, he was getting somewhat breathless and frustration had risen in his brain.

_What kind of hospital takes two days to repair their stuck elevator? _He thought to himself.

On the fifth flight of the stairs, he was passed by two very angry-looking nurses. He wasn't surprised. Using the stairs would be rough on anybody.

Ryan was pretty sure he was near an asthma attack when he pushed the door to the fifth floor and stepped into the corridor. He leaned against the wall, taking time to catch his breath. The ward was quiet and his breathing seemed to echo off the walls.

When he had finally caught his breath, Ryan pushed himself from the wall and began his search for room 526.

He found out nearly at the other end of the corridor. The door was open and Ryan could see a man sitting on a chair, not far from the bed. Ryan knocked softly and the man's head shot up. The man's eyes grew wide when he recognized Ryan and he immediately got to his feet and quickly walked out of the room, pushing Ryan aside and closing the door behind him.

"Detective Longström?" he asked with fake surprise.

"Special Agent."

"Yes sorry. Special Agent Longström. May I ask what you are doing here?"

"There are just a few questions I would like to ask you."

"My father is very sick." Bradford replied, like he was trying to look for the easy way out.

"So I've heard." Ryan replied, sympathetically. "But I've just done 8 hours of driving to come down to Asheville and it would be simple courtesy to let me ask my few questions."

"Of course. There a cafeteria downstairs."

Ryan nodded and followed the man back down the five flights of stairs.

* * *

The cafeteria was nearly empty and Ryan was surprised about it. Lunch would be barely over yet nobody was eating. Shrugging, he sat down at a table and motionned to Bradford to do the same. The man sat down.

"So?" he asked.

Ryan took out his notebook and his pen from his pocket. He flipped the little black book open.

"There's been another murder, Mr. Bradford. The young Allison Martin, your daughter's best friend."

"You think I killed her?"

"No. We actually already caught her murderer." He lied.

Ryan watched as Mr. Bradford's facial expression changed for a split second.

"I never really got to interview you on your children's disappearance and I didn't force you. But now, we have a double-murder on our hands and I don't want it to turn to triple."

Bradford nodded and sighed.

"You're right. I know more about my children's disappearance than I have told you about."

And for the next thirty minutes, Ryan listened to the man's story. He didn't bother writing down anything. He would remember this conversation for the rest of his life.

Paul was calm and almost seemed relieved to be telling him his side of the story. And when he was done, Ryan was almost pained to take out his handcuffs. Sometimes this part was the best part of his job. Today, Ryan knew there had to be something else better than this.

Standing up, he motionned to the man in front of him to do the same.

"Mr. Bradford, I'm putting you under arrest for first-degree murder."

* * *

**_gasps! _See you in the next chapter! _laughs evilly_**


	15. Charges

**A/N: No notes for this one even though this in itself is a note. ;-)**

* * *

Temperance felt the vibration of her cellphone on her hip as she dropped the basket of clean clothes on her son's bed. Snatching it from her pocket, she flipped it open and spoke her name.

"Hey Tempe! It's me."

Temperance stared out the door to make sure Booth wasn't around. She knew he wouldn't appreciate Ryan calling her on a week-end. She wasn't sure why her partner was actually calling but she doubted it was going to be a social call.

"Oh hey Ryan. What's up?"

"Can you work today?"

_Knew it._ She thought. _Not a social call. _

She frowned.

"Why?"

"We have a break in the Bradford case. I know who the abductor is. We're arresting him today. I have this whole team set up but I just thought you would like to come so I called you. Also, you might be needed, especially if we find Melina."

Temperance nodded even though she knew Ryan couldn't see her. She wasn't quite sure as to why she would be needed but she had a vague idea.

"Sure. How much time do I have?"

"I'll pick you up in about thirty minutes. How's that?"

"It's perfect. See you soon."

Flipping her phone shut, she took Lukas' pile of clothes out of the laundry basket and placed it neatly on the bed. She'd put it away when she'd come back. She was pretty sure this arrest thing wasn't going to last all day. She grabbed the plastic basket, walked out of the bedroom and went straight to hers.

She was surprised to find Booth laying down on their bed, eyes closed and his right arm thrown over his eyes. She smiled tenderly at the sight. He looked so peaceful when he was asleep.

She sat down on the bed and reached for his hand. She softly ran her thumb over the rough skin, debating whether or not she should wake him to tell him she was leaving in thirty minutes. After all, Parker could babysit while Booth slept. But before she even had a chance to decide, Booth opened his eyes.

"I'm awake." He said, half-asleep.

"Not for long, I'm guessing." Temperance replied, teasingly, pulling her hand away.

Booth laughed sarcastically.

"I'm leaving in thirty minutes."

Booth turned to her.

"Why? Where are you going?" He asked, sitting up.

"Ryan just called me. He said that he knows who the abductor is in the Bradford's case and we're going to arrest him... or her. He also thinks I would be needed if Melina was found alive."

Booth sighed.

"I was hoping to spend the day with you and the kids, just like we did last week-end." Booth replied, taking her hand in his. "But if you have to work, then you should go. I understand."

He kissed the inside of her palm.

"Thanks, Booth. That means a lot to me. I won't be gone for long, I promise. I'll most likely be back for dinner."

Booth yawned.

"I guess that means no nap for me, huh?"

"Sorry, but the kids need to be looked after."

"Mommy! Lukas bit me!" Riley screamed from down the stairs.

Temperance turned to her husband.

"What was I just saying?"

Booth chuckled before getting up, followed by Temperance.

Ryan prayed the neighbors wouldn't come out and watch as the FBI vans parked in front of the abductor's house. He hadn't personnally wanted a whole squad to join him, only a few men, but Cullen had insisted on a full team. Ryan had admit, though, that he did need a search party to look through the house for clues of Melina or Carl Bradford's presence. Deep down, he knew they wouldn't find any.

He turned to Temperance who was looking at the house rather nervously.

"Ready?" he asked her.

She merely nodded.

Getting out of his car, Ryan checked the house in front of him. Nobody at the windows, no lights, no mouvement inside. The house really seemed abandonned. Ryan knew better. He knew for a fact that the abductor would be here. He had a meeting.

Ryan signaled to his men to take their positions. Temperance watched as several men scattered across the yard and three others gathered behind them.

_Probably to watch our backs._ Temperance thought.

They climbed the front porch and Ryan knocked on the door.

"FBI! Open the door!"

He waited. Nothing. Not one sign of life. He knocked again, louder this time.

"FBI! Open the door!"

Still nothing. Grabbing his gun, he kicked the door open feriously. He stepped aside and let the three men behind them walk in first. They immediately ran up the stairs, like they had been ordered to do. Ryan followed immediately, Temperance closed behind him. She could feel her heart racing in her chest.

"Stay here." Ryan whispered to her.

And, for once in her life, Temperance obeyed without a word and stayed by the door. Above her head, she could hear the search team running in the hallway of the second floor, opening doors, looking for some sign of life.

Ryan stepped quietly into the living room. He looked around but the room was empty. He wasn't there. He tried the kitchen. Still nothing. The house was visibly empty. Why? Hadn't Bradford call his accomplice from the police station to tell him they would be meeting here today? Why wasn't _he_ here then?

Out of curiosity, Ryan stepped to the window and looked outside. The doll had disappeared from the yard.

He left the kitchen and went back to the lobby.

"If you see or hear anything, call me." He told his partner. "I'll be upstairs."

"Still no sign of him?"

Ryan shook his head before climbing up the stairs two-by-two to the second floor. He met up with one of his men in the corridor who told him the upstairs rooms were all cleared. Ryan sighed in frustration. Where was he?

"Okay. Check the rooms for any clues that could be linked to either Melina or her brother. Anything will do: clothing, jewelry, toys, anything. Call me if you find anything."

The man nodded before barking some orders to the other men upstairs. Ryan stepped into the bedroom in front of him and walked to the window. He looked outside to see there was only one car in the driveway. Logically, there should have been two. Ryan swore. He was gone.

As his team searched the entire house, Ryan walked back down the stairs. On the last step, Ryan noticed that Temperance was gone.

She wasn't sure what Ryan was doing at the moment but she was tired of standing around doing nothing. Her legs and mind begged her for some action and, as much as she tried to fight her urges, after ten minutes, she just couldn't do it anymore. There was one area the search team hadn't searched yet and she had a feeling, a gut feeling like Booth would have put it, that the answer to their questions was there. In the basement.

She quietly walked down the stairs, the steps creaking under her feet. Her heart raced a zillions miles an hour in her chest and she could hear it in her ears. She wished she could have been carrying a gun. If the abductor was in fact down there, she would probably need one. For a second, she considered calling Ryan for back up but changed her mind.

The basement was just as quiet as the rest of the house. Temperance walked slowly, taking in her surroundings, looking for a place where Melina, or her abductor, could have been hidden. She had reasons to believe the child was in this house. Melina wasn't dead. At least not yet. She knew it. She circled the room, her hand trailing the wall, looking for some sign of a fake on. She found nothing.

The basement was cold and dark. The light she had turned on barely illuminated the whole area and some patches of them were still pretty dark. Temperance felt the hair at the base of her neck rising and she shivered. This place was creeping her out.

She caught sight of a small door at the far end of the room. The door almost looked like a dungeon one but she knew what was behind it: a cold storage room. There was usually not much space to keep a body in there but it was still worth the shot. She quickly made her way to it, sidestepping various boxes.

The handle was rusted and cold under her hand and her heart began to race faster. Above her head, she heard someone walking. Ryan? An agent? The abductor? She closed her eyes and took a deep breath before opening the door slowly.

The room was small and as dark as the basement. She flicked on the light switch beside the door and a dim light lightened up the room. On her right, she heard a small whimper that almost sounded like a puppy. She turned her head in that direction.

The light didn't quite reach the corner of the storage room but Temperance could still make out a form. A tiny form. A tiny form sitting in the corner, head bent on its forearms. Her eyes grew wide in surprise and she immediately stepped back out of the cold room. She ran to the stairs.

"RYAN!" she called from the bottom of the stairs.

She listened intently. Nothing. She called his name again. This time, she didn't wait for an answer. She walked back to the cold room. The child was still there, slumped against the cold stone wall. Temperance slowly made her way to her.

"Melina?" she asked , softly.

The child whimpered once again. Temperance could tell the child was frightened to death. Stopping in front of her, she sat down in front of the child. Fearfully, she reached out for the child and laid her hand gently on her arm.

"It's okay, Melina. I'm not going to hurt you. I promise. Everything's over. You're safe now."

Melina whimpered once more. Temperance felt the child shaking under her hand.

She heard some mouvement at the door and Temperance looked up to see Ryan staring at her.

"Call 911. We'll need an ambulance." She told him.

Ryan nodded.

The paramedics arrived fifteen minutes later and, after much resistance, Melina finally let herself be laid down on the stretcher.

As the paramedics rolled her out of the basement and brought her to the first floor, Temperance wondered when had been the last time the child had seen the light of day. Melina was pale like a ghost, due to light deprivation and poor dieting. Time in a hospital was what she was going to need.

Temperance looked outside. The sun had disappeared behind thick gray clouds. At least the sun wouldn't hurt her eyes.

She followed the paramedics outside and watched as they put Melina in the back of the ambulance. One of the men was closing the back door when something caught Temperance's attention on her left. A car. A familiar car she had seen before. Somewhere. She called Ryan, anxiously. He was at her side in a second.

The car pulled in the driveway and the partners watched as Collins and his wife gout out of the car. Collins didn't seem too surprised to see them standing on his front porch, with FBI vans and an ambulance gathered in front of his house, and calmly walked up to them. His wife, unlike him, looked frightenely around.

"What's going on?" she asked Ryan.

"You should ask that question to your husband." Ryan replied, looking at Collins.

A hand slid down to his handcuffs. He had waited so long to do this

"I don't have to answer any questions." Collins spat.

He knew the rules, he knew his rights. Most of all, he knew what was coming to him.

Ryan shook his head.

"That's too bad." Ryan replied as he climbed down the steps and reached Collins in a split second.

Taking out his handcuffs, he roughly turned Collins around with his right hand.

"James Collins, I'm putting you under arrest for the kidnapping of the Bradford children and the murders of Carl Bradford and Allison Martin."

As Ryan read him his rights, Temperance watched Collins' wife melt into tears.

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**See you in the last chapter:-)**


	16. I'll Talk to You

**A/N: Well, this is the last chapter. Hope you all enjoy it. It's full of fluff.**

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The hospital hall was quiet as Temperance made her way to Melina's room. It had been less than three hours since the child had been hospitalized but Ryan had insisted on interviewing her. Temperance had refused to accompany him, saying that Melina would be too tired to answer questions and that, out of respect for her, he should wait. Of course, Ryan hadn't listened and had gone anyway. After much debating, Temperance had decided to go too. To stop him.

She reached the door to find it closed. She knocked softly, waited a few seconds before opening it. The room was quiet and she saw two heads turned towards her when she stepped in the room.

"You remember Temperance, Melina?" Ryan asked.

The child nodded and Temperance swore she had seen a smile tugging at her lips. She smiled at her.

"How are you feeling?" she asked.

But Melina didn't answer. Temperance turned questioningly at Ryan who stood up. He told Melina he'd be back in a few minutes before he walked out of the room, grabbing his partner by the elbow on his way out.

"She won't talk." Ryan told her.

"She's traumatized. What do you expect?" Temperance replied, thinking about her own experience.

She, herself, had stopped talking for a while after her parents disappeared. What Melina had gone through for the last months was even more horrible than what she had gone through. It was too be expected that the child would be traumatized by all of it.

"It'll take a while before she starts talking again. She probably doesn't even trust the nurses who take care of her. I..."

But Temperance stopped.

"You were going to say I told you so, weren't you?"

Temperance nodded. Ryan chuckled.

"Did you talk to Collins yet?"

"Nope. I have another agent doing just that right now."

"How did you find out that Collins was the abductor?"

Ryan smiled.

"Melina's father."

"Melina's father?"

Temperance was confused. What was Mr. Bradford doing in all of this? There was obviously something Ryan had "forgotten" to tell her about.

"I went down to North Carolina yesterday to interview him and he ended up telling me the whole truth."

"Which was?"

Ryan sat down on a chair in front of Melina's door. Temperance did the same, figuring this might take a while.

"Bradford was actually involved in all of this. He said that Collins came to him one day and told him that he had reasons to believe that Melina was _his_ biological daughter."

"You mean Collins thought that Melina was his daughter?" Temperance asked, not sure what Ryan had just meant.

"Yes. Apparently, Collins proposed to Bradford to get a paternity test done on her to see who was the real father. Paul, Mr. Bradford, thought it was a bit out of nowhere since he hadn't known his wife knew a James Collins so he asked him for a couple of days to think about it. It took about three days before Bradford gave Collins an answer. He told me that he was going crazy, that every time he looked at his daughter after that, he saw Collins. That's what made him decide to do it."

Ryan paused for a split second.

"Bradford knew his wife wouldn't be for the paternity test and he told Collins about it. The teacher thought it would be a good idea to kidnap Melina and have a secret paternity test done on her. Bradford wasn't for the idea at first but Collins had great persuasive powers and Bradford finally agreed."

The fire wasn't accidental."

"What do you mean it wasn't accidental?"

Ryan smiled at Temperance's incredulity.

"Bradford's an ex-electrician. He knows his stuff. He set it up to make it look like an accidental fire when, in fact, it was totally criminal."

"How did he do that?"

"Do you really care about that?"

"No."

"That's what I thought."

Temperance smiled.

"Collins stole the fire fighter suit, with Bradford's help who knew how to turn off the security alarm from the outside. The night of the fire, Collins kidnap Melina but he hadn't planned on finding Carl in the room as well. He thought that maybe he wouldn't get suspected right away if he took Carl too. When he saw Allison, he realized that she had recognized him that's why he threatned her not to say anything."

Temperance nodded. This story was incredible.

"But how did Carl end up being killed?"

"He tried to run away. Carl had a little more guts than his sister and one day, he decided that he had had enough of the dark and the starving and he tried to get away. Collins caught him and beat the crap out of him. He left him for dead in the basement but Carl ended up surviving the night. Bradford stopped by the house the following morning, Collins told him about his son and what he had done to punish him. Bradford got mad at Collins but the man used his anger against him and made Bradford hit his child instead of him. Bradford said that the child was barely conscient when Collins strangled him to death.

It was after that episode that Bradford realized how crazy Collins really was. He chickened out, backed out of the plan and left his daughter with the man. He said that it would be too suspicious if he brought her home with him. He figured the authorities would find her. Besides, he knew he was in deep trouble after all of that."

"What did you charge him with?"

"I had no choice but to charge him with first-degree murder. He practically killed his son by beating and he let Collins strangle him to death. Abduction charges will probably be laid as well."

"Does his wife know about it?"

"Not yet. I was going to go tell her after my visit to Melina."

Temperance stood up.

"Go now. I'll stay with Melina until you come back with her mother."

Ryan nodded.

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Temperance thought Melina was asleep when she saw the child had her eyes closed. But the eyes fluttered open the second she closed the door behind her. She smiled reassuringly at the child. Melina didn't move.

Temperance pulled a chair up to the bed, Melina's eyes following her every move. She sat down. Melina's eyes never left her face.

"How are you feeling?" she asked once again.

Melina blinked but stayed silent.

"It's okay if you don't want to talk right now. I understand. My parents disappeared when I was 15 and for a couple of months, I didn't talk to anybody. Nobody forced me to do it and I was very thankful for it."

Melina nodded and Temperance smiled. There was a least a bit of trust between them.

"When you're ready to talk, Ryan will be there to listen to your story, okay?"

The little girl nodded again.

Temperance noticed the child looked so skinny under all the tubes and bandages. She could see a cast on the child's right arm, several healed and not-so-healed cuts on her face and her body. Temperance even thought she could see a burn on the child's arm. Temperance shuddered.

"Ryan is gone to get your mother, Melina."

Tears immediately shot up the child's eyes and a few of them escaped. The salted water trailed down the girl's face. Temperance fought the urge to wipe them away. Melina had the right to cry of happiness.

Melina yawned and Temperance took that as her cue to leave. She stood up, smiled once more at the child before walking back to the door.

"I'll talk to you." She heard a small voice say behind her.

Temperance turned around. Melina was smiling weakly at her. Temperance smiled back.

"Okay." She replied, nodding.

On that, she left the room.

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"Unbelievable." Booth said as he watched Temperance drop on the bed, exhausted.

"Tell me about it. I'm surprised. I mean, Collins seemed so normal, besides the fact that he had seemed attracted to little girls."

"Well now we know that it was Melina all along that he had in mind."

Temperance nodded.

Booth took place beside her on their bed. He turned on his side to face her, his head resting in his left hand. The other arm reached for her hand. Fingers linked and Temperance sighed.

"You should have seen the mother-daughter reunion. Ryan teared. I teared. It was just so moving."

Booth smiled.

"You big softy." He said, teasingly.

"Melina said that she would talk to me and not to Ryan."

Booth didn't look surprised.

"I don't doubt it. You have a way with kids that make them trust you. Children, they have this sensor and they know, most of the time, when they can trust a certain person. They only see the good in people and sometimes that plays tricks on them. It happened to Melina and it's sad to say that it's going to happen to more children as well."

Temperance nodded, sadly. She just wish this wasn't going to happen to her own children.

"Promise me, Booth, that if a man you barely even know comes up to you and says that our twins aren't yours that you're not going to believe him."

Booth kissed her forehead.

"I promise. But I doubt that's ever going to happen."

"Why do you say that?"

Booth scooted over to be even closer to her. His hand left hers to go rest on her hips and Booth pulled her closer to him.

"Our kids are ours, there's no denying that. Everything about them reminds me of you or me. Lukas looks exactly like me when I was his age and he has your intelligence and your strength. Riley looks exactly like you, except with my brown eyes, and she has my personality. She's more outgoing, trusting and less smart."

"You're smart, Booth."

"Not as smart as you. That's what I mean."

Temperance nodded. Booth's expression turned serious which made Temperance frown.

"What's the matter?" she asked him.

"Last week, you told me you wanted another child and I told you to wait until this case was over before we talk about it. Now that the case is over, I want to know where you stand on this new baby thing."

Temperance looked away. She hadn't really thought about it since that night and now that Booth had reminded her, she realized that she was in fact ready to have a new baby. She knew that it would mean less time spent at work and more sacrifices but seeing Melina had brought out something in her. She had realized that if she could care that much for a child she didn't even know, there was no telling how much she could care about her own children.

She turned back to Booth.

"I still want another one. I think I'm ready."

Booth nodded.

"Are you sure? Because once you're pregnant, there's no turning back. The twins were an accident. I don't want the same thing to happen to our next child."

"It's not going to happen to our next child."

Booth smiled and kissed her once again, this time, on the lips.

"So we're trying to have a baby?" Booth asked.

Temperance smiled.

"We're trying to have a baby." She replied.

Booth grinned before passionately claiming Temperance's lips with his.

_This trying-to-have-a-baby stuff is fun_. Temperance thought as Booth pulled her shirt off and kissed the newly exposed skin.

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**Thank you once again to every reader who read this story and especially to those who reviewed. It's been a bumpy ride, at least for me since I did a whole lot of reconsidering for this story based on your reviews. I appreciated every single one of them and I hope you enjoyed reading the story as much as I enjoyed writing it. I have a lot of ideas for new stories so make sure to check out the Bones page in the next few days for a new story. Until then, take care!**


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